


A Reason to Stay

by SnapTheVolleyNerd



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: A Reason to Stay, Anxiety, Depression, F/M, Haikyuu - Freeform, Hinata is so brave, M/M, This is violent beware
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2020-02-15 16:17:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 24
Words: 41,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18673162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnapTheVolleyNerd/pseuds/SnapTheVolleyNerd
Summary: When the Hinata sibling's world comes crashing down, it's up to Shoyou's teammates to find out what's happening behind closed doors.





	1. A normal day

**Author's Note:**

> (Updated note uwu) 
> 
> Title of the fanfic has changed to (hopefully) suit the story better, and more fanart will be added as the story continues. 
> 
> Let me know what you think please! OwO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shoyou groaned into his pillow, he didn’t particularly feel like going to school today. His legs ached, and his arms were burning. But still, he got up. He looked at the alarm clock on his desk, it was only 5:02. He shuffled around his room, gathering his schoolbooks. Natsu needed to be dropped off at preschool today, so he would be missing most of morning practice. But he knew better than to try and drop her off early, their father would know. He quietly made his way to the bathroom, and examined the bruises on his chest. He clutched the edge of the sink as he took a deep breath.

 

 

 

Shoyou groaned into his pillow, he didn’t particularly feel like going to school today. His legs ached, and his arms were burning. But still, he got up. He looked at the alarm clock on his desk, it was only 5:02. He shuffled around his room, gathering his schoolbooks. Natsu needed to be dropped off at preschool today, so he would be missing most of morning practice. But he knew better than to try and drop her off early, their father would know. He quietly made his way to the bathroom, and examined the bruises on his chest. He clutched the edge of the sink as he took a deep breath.

“ _C’mon, Shoyou, Natsu needs you to be strong for her. Just hang in there…Maybe I should tell Suga-san about what happened? No, definitely not.”_

He noticed that his lip had split at some point between now, and yesterday morning. He shuddered as the memories came back to him. He quickly changed into his school uniform, and went to make breakfast for him and Natsu, hoping that there was at least something he could use in the pantry or fridge.

He opened the door to the small pantry, and saw some rice that he could cook. Next stop was the fridge, luckily he noticed that their father had actually bought some food, recently, too. He grabbed two eggs, and two slices of bacon from the open containers. Rolling up his sleeves, and donning his mother’s apron, he began to cook. He glanced at the clock: 5:30. Natsu would be waking up soon, and he wanted to have breakfast cooked before she woke up. He looked at the eggs and bacon, and was pleasantly surprised to see they were nearly done.

“Nii-chaaaan, can you do my hair? Pleeeease?”

Shoyou stifled a groan, and put the plate down in front of her, one egg, one slice of bacon, and two plain rice balls. He hadn’t even taken the apron off yet. But how could he resist his baby sister’s smiling face, with her tiny hand holding hair clips and elastic ties? Simple: he couldn’t.

“Alright, Natsu, but you have to stay still this time, okay?”

He joked, as he ruffled her hair.

“Nii-chaaan! Stop itttt!”

She managed in fits of giggles. Shoyou went back to the bathroom quietly, for Natsu’s hair brush; he stopped cold when he heard his name. And it wasn’t Natsu that had called him. He grabbed the brush, his and Natsu’s bags (he kept them in the bathroom just in case such an accident occurred.), took off running into the kitchen, and grabbed Natsu, who in turn grabbed the two small lunches that he had set at the edge of the table.

“ ** _Shoyou, get back in here NOW!!_** ”

Their father roared from behind them. Natsu was holding on to her brother as if her life depended on it, while struggling to hold onto their lunches. This was far from the first time this had happened, and she knew that Shoyou had put a lot of effort into making sure they had lunch every day.

“Nii-chan, I think we’re gonna miss the bus!”

_“oh hell no, I am not missing that damn bus AGAIN because of him”_

“Natsu, hold on tight!”

Natsu’s eyes widened, she knew what that meant. He was gonna run at top speed to get them to the bus stop in enough time. She reached around Shoyou’s neck, to hold onto his collar, and off they went.

 

 

“I’m sorry we’re a little late today, sensei!”

Shoyou whispered apologetically to the woman who was in charge of Natsu’s class. Natsu was already bouncing around with her friends, telling them how her nii-chan was the best, and had even fixed her a bento box.

The woman sighed deeply, before resting her hand on Shoyou’s shoulder.

“Hinata, you know we love Natsu, but I need to ask you: is everything alright at home? We can help you if you need it, I promise.”

Shoyou gulped, and lied to her face.

“Everything is fine! We were just running a little late today, is all! We’ll be on time from now on, I promise!”

The woman took a moment to look at Shoyou. Disheveled, hair a mess, bags under his eyes, and a few random leaves sticking to him here and there. She made a mental note to check in with Natsu as well.

“Alright, Hinata, I really don’t want either of you in any trouble, so I’ll let it slide for now. But you had better hurry, or _you’re_ going to be late!”

Shoyou looked at the clock on the wall behind her, reading: 7:18.

His eyes widened, but he still called Natsu back over to say goodbye.

“Promise you’ll be good? I’ll bring you a candy if you’re really good, okay? Bye, Natsu, I love you!”

After Natsu hugged him goodbye, he took off at the speed of light. He had started keeping his bike at the daycare, with the blessing of sensei, and hopped on it to go straight to Karasuno.

 

“You’re _late_ , dumbass!”

Kageyama growled at him as soon as he had sat down. He had missed the _entire_ morning practice, and was now being scolded, even though he had barely sat down. He had missed the rest of practice because he had to stop in the bathroom and apply some cover up, so no one would realize how much trouble he was in this time.

“I _know_ , Bakageyama!”

He hissed as the teacher handed out English worksheets. Shoyou groaned. It was gonna be a long day. But he had practice to look forward to, thanks to an arrangement for Natsu to stay later at the preschool so Shoyou could still attend some of his practices.

It was lunch time, and he had to go speak to Natsu’s teacher. He wasn’t sure why, all that he knew was that Natsu had gotten in trouble. He spoke to his own teacher, who was thankfully understanding. On his way out, Shoyou ran into Suga. Literally.

“Hinata! Slow down, where have you been? We were all worried about you.”

Suga asked in his quiet way. Shoyou looked on the ground, and saw several of Suga’s papers on the ground.

“Ah, sorry, Suga-san. I was running late today, and I had to get my little sister to her preschool. I’m actually heading out there for a meeting with her teacher right now. Can you tell the team I’m sorry? I don’t think that I can come back to school today. But I’ll see you all tomorrow, bright and early!”

Shoyou spoke quickly as he handed Suga the papers, and took off towards the preschool. Suga was left speechless. He also noticed that Shoyou’s shirt had come untucked and there were multiple bruises adorning his torso. He decided to have a talk with Daichi about him.

 

“I came as quickly as I could, is everything okay? Is Natsu hurt?”

Shoyou wheezed out, as he struggled to catch his breath. He had gone straight to sensei’s office, and noted that Natsu wasn’t there.

“Sensei?”

“Hinata, your father came in today.”

He felt his heart stop. If his father came to see Natsu, there was no telling what could have happened. His mind was racing with all of the worst possible scenarios, the walls appeared to be closing in on him. Suddenly, he couldn’t breathe. Everything was blurry, and sensei’s voice was distant.

“Hinata? Hinata, look at me! You’re okay, Natsu is safe, she doesn’t even know he was here. But I need you to tell me the truth. What’s happening at home?”

Hinata was barely able to shake his head no, as sensei held onto his shoulders. He heard her whispering words of comfort, as she had surely done thousands of times over. The calming voice, and the reassuring words helped calm him down, but now he felt exhausted, as if he could pass out right there. He shook his head to clear it-bad idea, he made himself dizzier.

“Hinata, are you okay?”

He nodded his head slowly. The world was slowly coming to a halt. He took a deep breath, and shakily said:

“E-everything is fine at home, I p-promise. But why was Dad h-here?”

She sighed in resignation, she wasn’t qualified for this matter.

“He was here to pay for Natsu to have lunch from the cafeteria, from here on. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Shoyou couldn’t figure out why their father would do that. Shoyou recalled a vivid memory

_“ **If you two shit heads want to eat, you better pay for all your food yourselves! And if I catch you in any of my fucking food, I’ll kill you both!** ”_

_Shoyou was holding Natsu close behind him, their father was on a drunken rampage, and was no longer the kind person he appeared to be._

_“Natsu, no matter what, if I tell you to go in my room, and lock the door, do it. Can you promise me that?”_

_He had asked, holding out his pinkie for his little sister._

_“Y-yes, Nii-chan. W-why is daddy so mean today?”_

_“I’m not sure, but I think he’s really drunk. Do you want to sleep in my room tonight?”_

_She had cuddled up against his chest, and nodded her head yes._

_Shoyou had heard of people like their father, but he had no idea that their father was actually one of them. He was scared for what their father might do to Natsu if she slept in her own room. He had heard of men who would get drunk and rape their daughters, over and over. He would rather face his father’s drunken rage a million times over, than let that happen to Natsu._

“It is pretty amazing, isn’t it? So, it wasn’t really an emergency, then?”

“Well, not an emergency, but you did request to be the person alerted when Natsu gets in trouble.”

He took a deep breath.

“What happened?”

“Well, one of her friends was being made fun of by a group of little boys, and one of them came right up to her friend and pushed her over. Natsu punched him in the face, and he has a black eye and a bloody nose. But, it was one against five, and by the time one of the aides realized what was happening, Natsu’s clothes had been ripped up, she had a black eye and bloody nose as well, and several bruises all over her.”

Shoyou sat in shock, as he remembered he had been teaching her some self-defense, just in case. But he never would have guessed she would end up using it _at school_ , of all places. He took a moment to recover, before speaking.

“W-well um. Have all of the children been punished, and is my little sister okay?”

“None of them were allowed to go to recess, and they’ve all been separated since. Natsu refuses to apologize because they hurt her _and_ her friend. But, well…the boys say that they’ll apologize, but I thought it would be best if you were here.”

Shoyou nodded his head in agreement.

“Okay, well, let’s do it?”

Sensei chuckled quietly.

“Okay, Hinata, let’s do this thing.”

 

“Natsu, look at me. I know you don’t want to apologize, but if you don’t, you might get in trouble, okay?”

“….Okay, Nii-chan. But only cause _you_ said so.”

“Atta girl.”

Sensei walked into the room with a group of five little boys, each one looking pretty bruised and scared, once they saw Shoyou, kneeling next to Natsu.

“Now, boys, this is Natsu’s big brother, you may call him ‘Hinata-san’.”

The boys all looked at each other and nodded. In unison, they all said:

“We’re very sorry for hurting Natsu and her friend. We’re sorry, Natsu-chan, and Hinata-san!”

Shoyou looked at his little sister expectantly.

“I’m sorry I hit you guys so much, wanna be friends?”

 


	2. Suga's concerns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga finds a paper belonging to Hinata, and visits the Hinata household at the wrong time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hoooooooo boy. I hope you guys like this chapter as much as I liked writing it! Also, thinking of doing some fanart for these chapters soon, what do you guys think?

“I’m telling you, Daichi, something is wrong. We need to do _something_!”

Suga was pleading with Daichi, he knew that something was wrong, but he didn’t know what. He looked at Daichi, noticing the intense concern in Daichi’s own eyes.

“Suga, I’m not sure how exactly we should go about this. It’s Hinata, after all. He’s always just…a big ball of energy. But you’re right, something must be wrong. He missed practice this morning, and he’s missed more than all of us put together, even when we were sick.”

Daichi rubbed his temples, searching for memories of things that Hinata had done differently in the past few months. His eyes grew wide as he realized he had seen something unusual happen many times now. Hinata always went to the gender-neutral bathroom before class. But that’s not what stuck out to Daichi. What stuck out was the way that Hinata looked as if he hadn’t been sleeping at all. How his uniform was disheveled when he went into the bathroom, and how he looked normal when he came out.

“Daichi, when he left earlier today…I saw some bruises. W-well…actually, there were quite a few, and they were pretty big, from what I could tell…He also said that he was heading to his little sister’s preschool, for a meeting with the teacher.”

Suga remembered the panicked look on Hinata’s face, but he also recalled seeing a paper of Hinata’s left behind. He wondered if he might have grabbed it on accident. He looked in his bag, and sure enough, there was a paper that had the names _Hinata Shoyou, Hinata Natsu, Hinata Katashi,_ and _Hinata Aki_ , in pen throughout the entire page.

“Daichi…look at this…”

Suga covered his mouth as he read over the paper. Daichi came up behind him, and saw why Suga was now trembling. It was a police report. The words that stuck out to the two boys were: _murder, no suspect, dangerous, fallen ill,_ and _suicide_.

“Suga, we’re going to go check on Hinata, and we’re going to give this back to him. We’ll observe what we can while we’re there.”

Suga recognized the steel in Daichi’s voice. Based on the report, Hinata’s mother had been murdered, but there were no suspects, and the police couldn’t quite rule out suicide at the time of the report.  Daichi was furious, but he was also worried for the energetic first year.

“Daichi, let’s go after practice…he should be home by then, for sure.”

“Alright, Suga. We can’t let the rest of the team know just yet, since we don’t know for sure what’s going on in the Hinata family.”

Suga nodded his head in agreement. Little did they know, someone else was listening in on their conversation.

 

“Hinata won’t be able to come to practice tonight, due to having to leave early for a meeting with his little sister’s teacher. He was running late for it, but he let me know that he’ll be here for morning practice tomorrow. So, let’s all have a good practice!”

Suga feigned a happy, ignorant mood, while the rest of the team talked about how quiet practice was without Hinata. He had become that heart and soul of the team, and something always seemed off when he wasn’t there for practice.

 

“Nii-chan!”

Shoyou could barely hear Natsu’s cries, but he knew she had to get to safety.

“Natsu…g-…to m-…room…lock th’ door.”

Natsu knew that she had to do what she had promised to do, and she ran to her big brother’s room. She sat in front of the door, holding her knees and crying, as she heard their father screaming.

“ ** _You’re nothing but trash, Shoyou! Stealing my food again, you know what your punishment is! You know what you have to do._** ”

Shoyou nodded his head. He had to take whatever his father threw at him, and he wouldn’t go looking for Natsu. He sat on the floor in front of his father, wondering how he would be able to hide all of his new injuries at practice tomorrow. But then they heard a knock on the door.

“ **Go answer the door, Shoyou. And don’t let them inside.** ”

His father growled at him. He quickly stood, and went to the door, only to see his senpais there. His heart dropped to the floor.

“Ah, Hinata, you dropped this on your way home. How is everything?

Suga asked gently. But Suga saw a bright red mark on Shoyou’s face, as if he had just been slapped.

“Thank you, Suga-san. Everything is just fine, thank you for asking.”

He responded with a small smile. But then they heard his father’s voice.

“ **Shoyou, who is it? Tell them we don’t want whatever they’re selling.** ”

“Could you actually hold on to that paper until tomorrow, Suga-san? I have to make sure that dad doesn’t burn dinner.”

Daichi was listening and looking very closely at the house. But Suga nodded, and was off with a wave.

“Daichi! Did you hear that? D-do you think Hinata’s dad is…drunk?”

Daichi nodded his head in agreement, but stopped in his tracks when he heard muffled yelling. Rather than walking down the path that led to the road, he went around the back of the small house, and saw that the curtains were open, and there was Shoyou, sitting on the floor, his father towering above him, yelling abuse. Suga was close behind Daichi, and he saw the very same thing. Suga tugged on Daichi’s sleeve, and the two narrowly avoided being seen by Shoyou’s father.  

“Suga, Hinata needs help. Help that we can’t give him on our own. Let’s look over that report again.”

Suga nodded in agreement, as their feet pounded on the pavement.

“ **Well, who was it Shoyou?** ”

He growled out, and Shoyou knew that although he could handle his father in a drunken stupor, he could not handle him right now, as he had only had enough to make him slightly tipsy.

“Just some friends from school, Dad. They were worried because I was a little late to class today.”

He lied. He knew why they had really come, but he hoped that his father wouldn’t realize why they had actually come.

“ **Tell me the _truth_ , or your punishment will be far worse than normal.**”

Shoyou gulped, and spoke quietly and clearly.

“I _am_ telling you the truth, dad.”

He heard his father stomping over to him. His eyes grew wide; his father had never done this before. He knelt down to Shoyou’s eye level,

“ _I’m giving you one last chance to tell me the truth, Shoyou. After that, if you still haven’t told me the truth, your punishment is sealed_.”

Shoyou took a deep breath, and decided he had better tell him the truth.

“I dropped some homework on my way to pick up Natsu, they were coming to give it back, but it’s due tomorrow, so I asked them to keep it for me.”

Well, the partial truth, anyway. His father stood up, and told him to do the same. Shoyou did as he was told, and his father picked him up roughly.

“ **You’re going to do exactly as I say, do you understand me, Shoyou.** ”

It wasn’t a question; it was an order. Shoyou was processing where they were going. They were headed towards his father’s bedroom. His heart was racing, the very thing he had been trying to protect Natsu from seemed to be his punishment for that day.

“…D-Dad? Wh-why are we in your room?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he was thrown onto the bed.

“ **Because you’re going to make me feel good, or your sister will.** ”

Shoyou realized what he meant. Either he was going to pleasure his father, or his father would rape his sister. Shoyou shuddered. This was so many different levels of wrong, that was his _father_ , and he was forcing him into having sex with him.

“ **Now, Shoyou…the first thing I want you to do is _suck me off_. Starting now.**”

His father said, in an obvious fit or perverseness, he told his son. Shoyou gulped, as his father came over to him, taking his clothes off on the way. Shoyou didn’t’ remember much of what happened afterwards, only that his father had raped him over and over, even after he had passed out, according to the pain all over his body. He sat up groggily, and saw that his father was long gone. It was only 4:30 am, according to the bedside clock. He tried to stand, but found that every tiny move was as if he had been shot. He stumbled out of the room, and into the bathroom, refusing to even glance at the mirror, he grabbed a towel, wrapped it around himself, and went to check on Natsu. He knocked on the door, gently.

“Natsu, it’s me. Can you open the door please?”

Natsu was barely awake, but she heard her brother’s voice, and reached up to unlock the door. Her eyes grew wide as she saw her big brother, her protector, covered in bruises and cuts. She was on her feet as soon as she realized how hurt her big brother was. She latched onto him tightly, tears streaming down her face, she apologized over and over to Shoyou.

“Hey…Natsu, I’m okay, really. Let’s get ready for school, okay?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUCKING OW THIS WAS HARD AS HELL TO WRITE


	3. Kageyama's suspicions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama had been having trouble sleeping of late, worrying about Hinata. He turned on his side, his mind running wild with thoughts.
> 
> "Why has he been missing so much school lately? Why have the teacher's been LETTING him get away with this? He's even missing practice..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How TF do you add pictures to these damn things?! I had to rewrite half of this bc my dumb ass couldn't figure it out! orz  
> This was a p fun chapter to write tho, I hope y'all like it! :D

 

Kageyama had been having trouble sleeping of late, worrying about Hinata. He turned on his side, his mind running wild with thoughts.

_"Why has he been missing so much school lately? Why have the teacher's been LETTING him get away with this? He's even missing practice..."_

He let out a quiet, frustrated groan, as he rolled over once again, as his eyes landed on the alarm clock next to his bed. Another sleepless night. He swung his legs over the bed as he glanced at the only picture he had of just the two of them. It had been just after a big win, and Suga had insisted on getting a picture of 'Karasuno's freak duo'. In the picture, Hinata was grinning, his arm slung around Kageyama's shoulder. Kageyama had just barely managed to muster an exhausted smile, and had an arm slung around Hinata's shoulder as well.

As a single tear streaked his face, he took a deep breath, and made a choice that he wouldn't normally make. He was going to visit Hinata's home, and-if all went well, they would race to school again once again. At least that was his hope.

 

"Nii-chan...last night, I heard Dad say he wouldn't be back until tonight...are you sure it's okay for you to go to school like this?"

Natsu asked her brother, as she bandaged his cuts, and set about cleaning his tender bruises. As she was carefully placing a bandage on some of the cuts on his lower back, when she noticed that his skin was a little sticky.

" _Ow!_ Natsu, just clean there with the water please?"

Natsu flinched at Shoyou's sudden exclamation of pain, and set about gently washing his tender bruises with cool water. As she was doing this, she was biting her lip, remembering how their mother had always helped them clean up their little cuts, scratches and bruises.

"Nii-chan...I miss mommy..."

Shoyou's heart fell to the ground, as he realized he could never fill the empty void, that their mother had left behind. He turned to face Natsu, and took her into his aching arms, and held her close. A few tears dripped down her tiny cheeks, as the two siblings embraced each other.

"I miss her too, Natsu. But I'm trying my best."

"Nii-chan-"

Natsu's voice was abruptly cut off as a knocking sound resounded through their home. Shoyou glanced down at himself. He had thrown on pajama shorts while Natsu was tending to his injuries, and quickly decided to put on an old t-shirt, large enough that it should hide mush of the swelling, but also a good night shirt, so whoever was knocking on their door would think he had just woken up. But then he remembered that he hadn't put any cover up on his injuries, and he cursed himself for not doing so. Well, at the very least, no one he knew should be up this early, so whoever it was will hopefully just think he was a very clumsy child.

"Nii-chan, I can answer the door!"

"Absolutely not, Natsu, we don't know who it is yet. Just go get ready for school, and I'll do your hair on the bus, okay?"

Natsu's eyes shone brightly, knowing that her big brother could do all kinds of hairstyles for her, and she took off to get ready. Shoyou stifled a pained groan as he shuffled to door, where the knocking had become slightly more insistent.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

He did his best to sound groggy, so maybe whoever it was would get the hint. But when he opened the door, he saw Kageyama, and for a moment, everything was okay again. But then cruel reality reminded him that it wasn't so.

"...Hinata?"

Hinata noticed where Kageyama was staring, and saw the hand shaped bruise on his arm, before quickly hiding it.

"W-what are you doing here, Kageyama-kun?"

"I was worried about you, dumbass. Who hurt you like that?"

"Nobody, I fell down the stairs this morning."

Kageyama knew Shoyou well enough to know when he was lying. But this looked like big trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuckING HELL I HOPE Y'ALL LIKE THE DIRECTION THIS IS HEADED 
> 
> ALSO WTF I GOT THE IMAGE ON THERE CAN I GET A HELL YEAH AND I'M AWARE ID DOESN'T SHOW HIS INJURIES I JUST HAD A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS FANFIC OKAY


	4. Natsu's love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey, dumbass, why are you riding the bus? What happened to your bike?"
> 
> "Uhhh..."
> 
> "Nii-chan rides the bus with me to school everyday! And he makes me breakfast and lunch and dinner, and he makes my hair all pretty, and he gives me candy bars when I'm good!"
> 
> Kageyama looked at the small girl in surprise, he had no idea that Hinata did that everyday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay shorter than I planned, but I gotta go shopping, hope y'all enjoy :)

Natsu was hidden behind the wall, as her brother was struggling to give his friend an explanation.

"Kageyama-kun, really, I'm fine, promise! My little sister needs her breakfast...w-would you like to come in?"

Shoyou hoped that Kageyama would say no, as he recalled the broken glass on the floor. Instead, he was met with a nod and a scowl. He has to come up with some sort of reasonable explanation, and quickly.

"Nii-chan, who is this? And we're gonna miss the bus if we don't hurry!"

Kageyama looked at the siblings quizzically, they were both rather bruised, he noted.

"What're you staring at my bruises, are you jealous?"

Natsu asked with a giggle. Shoyou groaned, planting his face directly into his palm.

"Natsu, you just had to pick a fight with those boys, didn't you...?"

Kageyama looked at his friend in surprise. The tiny girl with the same fiery hair as Hinata had picked a _fight_?

"Those boys were mean to my friends, Nii-chan, they deserved it!"

Natsu huffed, and stuck her tongue out. Shoyou gestured vaguely, as if he couldn't explain his little sister's need to fight.

"Hey, dumbass, why are you riding the bus? What happened to your bike?"

"Uhhh..."

"Nii-chan rides the bus with me to school _everyday_! And he makes me breakfast and lunch and dinner, and he makes my hair all pretty, and he gives me candy bars when I'm good!"

Kageyama looked at the small girl in surprise, he had no idea that Hinata did that everyday.

"Your big brother does all of that, just for you?"

"Uh-huh! And he makes the bestest food!"

Every word that she spoke was enthusiastic, but something about her looked tired, just like Hinata. He looked at the adoration in the little girl's eyes.

"Oh yeah, my name is Natsu!! What's _your_ name?"

"Ah, you can call me Kageyama, if you'd like."

Natsu looked at her brother, and then at Kageyama. She noticed the bruises on Shoyou's shoulders, and how Kageyama was looking at him critically.

"...Hinata, what are those bruises on your neck from?"

Natsu's eyes widened, as she thought quickly.

"Nii-chan gave me a piggy back ride yesterday, and I almost fell off...Sorry, Nii-chan"

Natsu quickly responded to Kageyama's question. Too quickly, in Kageyama'a opinion.

"Oh. You two need to be more careful. Especially _you_ , you dumbass. The whole team is worried about you. I came here today to make sure you made it to morning practice."

Shoyou looked at Kageyama, eyes as wide as saucers.


	5. Hinata's fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Nii-chaaan! Be careful on your way to school, and tell Kageyama-kun that I wanna play with him later, pleeeeease?!"
> 
> "Natsu...Kageyama-kun might have plans after school, but I'll ask him, okay? Now, you be good for Sensei, and I'll bring you some candy later, okay? I love you, Natsu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this drawing was remarkably difficult to do, but I figured it would fit in well with this chapter ;)

__

 

_"How did I get in this mess? Why is Kageyama-kun walking me to school? How am I gonna hide my bruises like this?"_

Shoyou's mind was racing, trying to work out an excuse to run to the bathroom and apply copious amounts of coverup to his bruises, new and old. He reminded himself that he needed to get Natsu a nice treat for covering for the bruises on his neck. But right now, he had to somehow explain to Kageyama that there was no way in hell that he was gonna be able to race him, least of all on his bike. Kageyama was waiting for him outside, while Shoyou signed Natsu in.

" _wait a sec, why don't I just put on the coverup HERE? I'm sure Kageyama-kun won't mind."_

He glanced out the window, and noticed that Kageyama was getting their bikes all set to race to school. Shoyou suddenly remembered that his bike had gotten pretty beat up since his mother had died. He was jolted out of his thoughts by a bear hug from Natsu.

"Nii-chaaan! Be careful on your way to school, and tell Kageyama-kun that I wanna play with him later, pleeeeease?!"

"Natsu...Kageyama-kun might have plans after school, but I'll ask him, okay? Now, you be good for Sensei, and I'll bring you some candy later, okay? I love you, Natsu!"

He called out as he headed to the bathroom. He made eye-contact with Kageyama and motioned to the bathroom. Kageyama nodded, and Shoyou was off. He finally looked at himself in the mirror, and took a deep breath, as he shakily took the makeup out of his bag. He tried to gently apply it to his bruises, but every touch, no matter how gentle he was, made him wince. He let out a quiet groan as he used up more coverup than normal. It was more expensive than he had realized at first, when he tried to use much cheaper versions of it, it had only made his bruises more noticeable.

"Just breathe, Shoyou...You're gonna go to school with Kageyama-kun, and get there in time for practice."

He whispered words of encouragement to himself, as his backside reminded him of the night before. A sudden jolt of pain made him drop the coverup stick that he had been holding, and he stifled a groan of pain as he bent down to pick it up. He quickly washed his hands and took off out the door, seeing Kageyama had been watching for him.

 

"Dumbass, why didn't you use the toilet before we left your house?"

"Hey, it's not my fault that dad hasn't fixed the stupid toilet, Kageyama-kun!"

Shoyou stated with a pouting face. Kageyama looked at him in surprise.

"Oh, Natsu wanted me to tell you that she wants to play with you later, Kageyama-kun. I'm surprised she wasn't scared of you, actually!"

He touted with a laugh, while Kageyama quietly fumed about his words. He was deep in thought, even though he was listening to Shoyou rambling, he just couldn't stop wondering about what was going on in his friend's house everyday. He stopped suddenly when he realized Shoyou wasn't beside him.

"Hinata?"

Shoyou was only able to muster a pained groan in response. Kageyama looked behind him and saw that Shoyou had fallen off his bike, and looked as if he may scream from the pain he was in.

"Hey, are you okay? How did you even fall off your bike?"

Shoyou looked over at his friend, but the world wouldn't stop spinning, and he suddenly wondered why he had even tried to ride his bike to school. He felt like throwing up, like he was disgusting. Kageyama was next to him now, with a hand on his back.

"I-I'm fine, Kageyama-kun. But I think I'm going to have to walk the rest of the way to school..."

Kageyama looked at him with worry filled eyes. Kneeling, he spoke quietly.

"Get on my back, dumbass, I doubt you can walk like this. And before you freak out, I'm still going to take you to practice. We'll ask Suga-san and Daichi-san what to do when we get there, okay?"

Shoyou was far too weak to protest at this point, feeling as if the memories from the past several months were replaying over and over.

 

" _ **HE WHAT?!**_ "

Suga demanded, seeing his two juniors looking rather mussed and tired. But what caught his eye was Shoyou, and how he was awake, but didn't quite seem to be aware of where he was. Kageyama gently set him on the ground, and Suga took over, noticing that Shoyou recoiled at the slightest touch.

"Hinata, what happened to you last night?"

Only Shoyou could answer that question, but right now, he was beginning to slip into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally gonna start heating up in the next chapter guys ;)


	6. We're in trouble now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spinning, spinning, spinning. Where was he? He was sure he wasn’t at home; it was far too bright. He heard concerned whispers, as he struggled to open his eyes, to even move, but every slight movement caused fiery pain to flare throughout his entire body.
> 
> “Shhh, he’s waking up!”
> 
> He heard a familiar voice whisper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, I just spent like two and a half hours on this. That's why there was no update yesterday. Hope you like it!

Spinning, spinning, spinning. Where was he? He was sure he wasn’t at home; it was far too bright. He heard concerned whispers, as he struggled to open his eyes, to even move, but every slight movement caused fiery pain to flare throughout his entire body.

“Shhh, he’s waking up!”

He heard a familiar voice whisper, as the other voices quieted. Shoyou struggled to prop himself up with his hands, only to slip. But he was caught by gentle hands, and the first thing he saw when he finally opened his eyes was Kageyama’s worried face. He struggled to speak, he wanted to say something, anything, to prevent him from discovering the truth. But instead Kageyama brought a long finger to Shoyou’s chapped lips. Shoyou turned his head to see Suga coming over with a bottle of water, and he wondered what exactly had happened. Before he could muster up any type of response, Suga spoke.

“Hinata…Kageyama said that you fell off your bike, and that you passed out somewhere on the way to school. Now, I’m not sure what’s going on with you right now, but you know that if someone is hurting you, you can tell us, right?”

Shoyou nodded his head reluctantly.

_“But he said that if I told anyone he-he would hurt her. I’m sorry everyone, but this is something that I have to do alone.”_

His mind was racing, struggling to come up with a valid excuse for everything that had happened that morning.

“Hey. Hinata, look at me.”

Suga whispered as he sat down in front of Shoyou. He recognized those scared eyes, the strength that Shoyou had been showing, even if they hadn’t known.

“Everything will be okay. We’re always here for you. I know that you’re scared of something, and that’s okay. Just…promise us that you’ll come to us for help, okay?”

“B-but Suga-san…I-I-I can’t. I can’t tell you why either. I’m sorry!”

Shoyou shook Suga’s hands off his shoulders as he stood and ran for the door. Suga felt a wave of shock and worry hit him as he watched Shoyou stumble out of the gym. He had seen something that the others hadn’t, as Shoyou ran. Suga was frozen where he had sat down just a few moments earlier. But a gentle hand on his shoulder brought Suga out of his thoughts.

“…Koushi, are you alright?”

Daichi rarely used Suga’s first name around the team, but everyone had been shaken when Shoyou ran away from his caring touch. Suga gave an almost imperceptible nod in response to Daichi. The team’s practice for the morning was put on hold, as they tried to snap Suga out of his haze of worry. But then he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Daichi…he’s in the same problem I was in first year…we-we have to do something, Daichi, we have to do something, anything…”

Suga’s panicked voice sent the two remaining first years into a fit of concern. He had never sounded so distressed before. But when Daichi and Asahi got near, Suga looked as if he couldn’t see them, like he was somewhere else mentally.

Suddenly Suga was clinging to Daichi and Asahi, as if they were the only things keeping him grounded. What only the three third years knew about Suga’s past was coming back in the form of vivid memories.

_“You’re disgusting, Koushi. You don’t deserve to even be alive.”_

_He was backed into a corner, his mother and father coming at him in a drunken rage. He thought back to the way this had all started. Before he had joined the volley ball team at Karasuno, he had never had this many problems with his parents. They had been so loving for most of his life, and suddenly everything was falling apart around him. What hurt the most was how they were treating a simple rumor. A rumor that he was gay had begun circulating around the school after he had been seen comforting Daichi after a particularly harsh practice game. They had lost 0-25 for all three sets, unable to make a single score._

_“Please, stop! Mom, dad, I’m sorry!”_

_The tears didn’t stop coming as his parents continued to beat him every day for months on end. One day, Asahi and Daichi had decided to pay their friend a visit.  They arrived to a broken door, and hateful comments being hurled at Suga. This hadn’t been part of their plan. But they went inside anyway. They saw their friend lying on the floor, unconscious. His clothes were nowhere to be seen, and suddenly Daichi knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what Suga’s parents had done to him-no, what they had been doing to him for months. The two boys were filled with such rage at the two people who were supposed to protect their child. Asahi had long since rushed to Suga’s side, with Daichi guarding the doorway, as he listened closely for the angered shouting to come closer._

_“C’mon Daichi, we gotta get him to a hospit-“_

_Asahi stopped short as Daichi turned to look behind him-too late, Suga’s father had found them. The last thing Daichi remembered from that block of time was being hit only a single time before he began to throw punches of his own, in a blind fury. He had managed to at least slow the man down, as Asahi grabbed him by his shirt collar, and took off out the door, dragging his friends with him to the best of his ability. They all had agreed to only speak of that day when it was necessary._

Daichi was holding Suga tightly as he stroked his head calmingly. Asahi was rubbing comforting circles on his back, in the place where he knew where bound to be hurting with this much stress.

The second years looked in awe at the bond between their seniors.

“Ryuu, I’m not sure what’s happened between them, or what’s going on with Shoyou, but it can’t be good. We need to do something.”

Tanaka nodded his head in agreement, and even Ennoshita murmured his approval.

 

Shoyou hadn’t stopped running since he left the gym. He was going to have to go to class today, whether he liked it or not. He went to the bathroom, the place that had been granting him a small amount of peace in the last few months. He took a deep breath as he went to open the door, and ran directly into one of his teammates.

“Oh, Hinata! How are you feeling? You aren’t hurt anywhere from your fall, are you? Hey…what happened?”

Shoyou had not been expecting to run into Yamaguchi here, of all places. But he was on the brink of tears, and Yamaguchi’s question was all that was needed for him to lose his fragile hold on his emotions. Yamaguchi felt his eyes go wide as the literal ball of energy let tears stream down his face.

“Hey, everything will be okay…Do you want to talk about it?”

A vigorous shake of his red head, and Yamaguchi had the gut feeling that Shoyou just needed a shoulder to cry on for right now.

“Hey, why don’t we go somewhere quiet, and you can just cry unbothered. How does that sound?”

Shoyou couldn’t manage to choke the words out, but Yamaguchi led him to a quiet place, keeping his arm around the smaller boy at all times. He felt how Shoyou leaned into the touch, and he allowed his mind to ponder what might have caused such a reaction from Shoyou.

“Here we are, Hinata. This is my own little private place. I come here when I need to be alone, but you can come here whenever you need to now, okay? I’ll go ahead and-”

His voice cut off as he felt a tug at his sleeve. He didn’t want to be alone, he wanted Yamaguchi to stay with him.

“I can stay with you, if that’s what you want, Hi-Shoyou?”

He had noticed how Shoyou recoiled at the mention of his family name, but relaxed at his own. It was altogether a strange reaction. Yamaguchi sat down on a patch of cool grass, and motioned for Shoyou to do the same. He willingly sat, and reluctantly got closer to Yamaguchi, as if he was afraid of being touched, but so desperately needed comforting.

“Shoyou”

He jumped at Yamaguchi’s voice, but looked at him quizzically.

“You can relax here. It’s safe, see? There’s a fence over there, and on the other side are some thorny bushes, and nobody else knows about this place. Not even Tsukki.”

Yamaguchi noted that a glimmer of hope had appeared in Shoyou’s eyes. He looked at the small boy, and wondered if he had always looked so frail. Yamaguchi reached out his arm, a little reluctantly, and motioned for Shoyou to come closer. Once Shoyou was safely wrapped in Yamaguchi’s arms, the tiny boy finally relaxed. Within moments he was sleeping peacefully and Yamaguchi wondered how he had managed to get into this mess.

He was struggling to get his cellphone out of his pocket to send a message to the school, letting them know that he and another first year would likely miss most of their first class. Thankfully he received a response quickly, assuring him that both of them would be fine, so long as they came to school asap.

Yamaguchi breathed a sigh of relief as read through the message. Now the more difficult part: explaining to the team why both him and Shoyou were missing from not just practice but class. As if he had some sort of esp, Suga began texting Yamaguchi mercilessly.

 

8:27

From: Sugawara-Senpai

Yamaguchi, where are you?

8:28

From: Sugawara-Senpai

Have you seen Hinata anywhere?

8:29

From: Sugawara-Senpai

I’m really hoping the two of you are at least together, right?

8:30

From: Sugawara-Senpai

Take care of him, Yamaguchi, please

 

Yamaguchi looked at his phone in confusion. What had he missed when he slipped away to the bathroom? Was Shoyou in trouble of some sort? He glanced at the sleeping boy, wondering what he had been going through to end up the way he was now.

 

“Yamguchi-kun?”

Shoyou barely recognized his own sleepy voice, but he had slept better than he had in a very long time. He looked up, only to realize that Yamaguchi was holding him tightly, as if he could protect him from everything scary.

“Yamaguchi? W-what time is it?”

Yamaguchi stirred as he realized that Shoyou was no longer asleep. He sat up, careful to keep his arm around Shoyou, as he let out a yawn. He reached for his phone and realized how long they had been in his secret little space. He let out a quiet groan, as he showed his phone to Shoyou.

“Oh man, the teachers are gonna be so mad at me for missing so much of class!”

Shoyou was pulling tiny tufts of his hair in frustration until Yamaguchi spoke.

“Nope, I already talked to both of our teachers. But we should head to class now. Although…it’s lunchtime right now, so maybe we should just get lunch first? Oh shit, I promised Tsukki that we could go to one his favorite restaurants for lunch today! Do you wanna come with us, Shoyou?”

Shoyou politely shook his head no.

“I actually have to go make sure my little sister has lunch. I’ll see you again at practice though, right?”

“Yep! Bye Shoyou, be careful, okay?”

Shoyou nodded his head in response. How the fuck was he going to explain _this_ one to the team? Or what if someone saw him and Yamaguchi here? If rumors got back to his father…he shuddered at the thought of what he would do to him if that happened. Finally standing up, Shoyou pulled out his own phone, and saw 17 text messages waiting for him. But he didn’t have time to go through them, he needed to open the email that was from Natsu’s daycare. He tapped the notification and his heart sank as he waited for it to load.

 

To: Hinata Shoyou

Subject: lunches

Hinata-kun, it would be for the best if you simply sent Natsu with a lunch every day.

I have provided her lunch for today, but we need to discuss this when you come to

Pick her up today.

-Sensei

 

Shoyou hadn’t realized that he had been holding his breath, but let it out in relief. He started walking towards what he vaguely remembered as being the entrance of this quiet place. One he had reached a more familiar part of the school grounds, he took off at a run to get to class. He was able to eat a lunch in peace for the first time in a very long time. Once he arrived to his class, he spoke with his teacher, who was glad that he was able to come in today after all.

“I’m very proud that you came in anyway, Hinata-kun. I was worried when I received the e-mail from your friend. Just remember, all you need to do is ask, and I can give you some time off from school, understand?”

Shoyou nodded his head quietly. None of his classmates knew why the teachers were going so easy on him these past few months, even offering to tutor him daily. But the teachers knew about his mother, and how he was caring for his sister. He quietly made his way to his desk, where a thin white envelope was waiting for him.

“Hey dumbass, glad you’re okay.”

Shoyou perked up at the sound of Kageyama’s voice, and he was happy to see that he wasn’t looking at him any differently.

“Of course I’m okay, Bakageyama!”

Shoyou exclaimed, punctuating with a raspberry. But he didn’t know that Kageyama had a plan to help him.

 

“Finally back to practice!”

Shoyou was very enthusiastic as he entered the gym, looking forward to practicing with his team. Suga looked over at him worriedly, before catching himself and putting on his usual smile.

“Hinata! Are you feeling any better? Yamaguchi said that you just needed a nap!”

Shoyou grinned sheepishly at his senior. Yamaguchi had created a group text with everyone from the team, except for Hinata. He had relayed everything that had happened that morning this way. He had also mentioned that nobody should be treating Shoyou any differently. Kageyama had also mentioned his plan to the team, but only vaguely.

 

~one happy practice later~

 

“Suga, how can you be so sure that the same thing is happening to him?”

“I just… _know_ , Daichi. His eyes were so full of fear…”

Suga felt himself shaking as he remembered that morning. Daichi stood from his place on the couch to hold the pacing Suga still.

“Koushi, it’s going to be okay. We’re going to find out what happened. And we’re going to help him. Just like we helped you. Okay? Hey, look at me. Hinata’s stronger than any of us realize. He can get through this. And once we know the whole truth, we can be his strength. Okay?”

Suga nodded his head against Dachi’s shoulder. He wanted to believe everything would turn out okay like it had for him, but there was no way to know for sure how everything would turn out for Shoyou. Suddenly they heard both of their phones going off. They exchanged a glance and looked to see notifications from Yachi.

9:03

From: Yachi-chan

Daichi-san, Sugawara-san, I have some information about Hinata. I think you’ll want to see this. Meet me at the market asap.

 

The two looked at their phones in confusion. Whatever Yachi had found must be important, with how she was wording everything.

“I’m glad you both could make it. Hinata and his entire family have been all over the news since he was little. When he was nine, his parents had a nasty divorce, and Hinata was kidnapped by his father, and held hostage for six months.”

Yachi placed a newspaper on the table with the headline of: _Hinata Katashi starved and kidnapped his own son_.

“And then about a year and a half later, when he was ten, his little sister went missing. She was barely a year old at the time, and likely doesn’t remember it, but it was his father and his friends again. She was found with severe bruises all over her body.”

Another newspaper: _Hinata Katashi strikes again: Kidnapped and brutally beat his daughter._

“But that’s not even the end of it. This is from a few months ago. Hinata’s mother was murdered in cold blood.”

The final newspaper with the headline: _Hinata Aki murdered on her way to pick up her daughter from preschool. Hinata Katashi victim yet again, or is the real culprit on the run?_

“They don’t know who the murderer is, but according to this paper, Hinata’s father, Katashi, was ruled out as a suspect. Beyond these papers, I’ve seen Hinata digging through some trash recently. He always eats only a small amount of food, and I’ve also seen him buying his little sister some candies.”

Suga and Daichi looked at Yachi in shock. Hinata had been through hell. Literally. And he had been carrying that burden since he was very young.

“Dai-”

“Suga, we have to call the police. It’s no longer an option to leave Hinata and his sister with that man.”

“ _Daichi._ ”

Daichi looked at Suga in shock.

“We don’t have evidence to prove what we think is happening. And I doubt Hinata will willingly surrender the information we need. We need to think this over. Yachi-chan, thank you for all of your hard work. We’ll keep you posted.”

Yachi nodded and was off without a word.

 

“Daichi. It was different with me. Katashi has a history of violence. My parents did not. And not only that, but Hinata has a little sister that he must feel an obligation to protect. It’s possible that his father has threatened to harm her if Hinata comes clean about what’s been going on at that house. We can claim whatever we want, but it means nothing if we don’t have evidence to back it.”

Daich nodded in resigned agreement.

 

 

“ ** _SHOYOU! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT FUCKING NOW!_** ”

Shoyou knew that he was in trouble. For what, he wasn’t sure. But he had found some food to give to Natsu, and told her to stay in his locked bedroom. He diligently walked down the stairs, still sore from the previous night. He was greeted by his father towering over him, with an angry scowl plastered on his face.

“Y-yes dad?”

He was already trembling, but he willed his body to calm. If his father knew how afraid he really was he would be in even more trouble.

“ ** _Go get me a beer. My friends are coming tonight. Make sure you bring out plenty of cold beers for us. And maybe I won’t beat you as much tonight._** ”

Shoyou’s breath hitched. Whenever his father had friends coming over it was almost always to help him hurt Shoyou. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders.

“Yes, dad.”

_To protect Natsu._

He pulled one beer can out of the fridge and brought it to him. There was a loud pounding on the door now.

“ ** _Go answer the door, you fucking bitch._** ”

“Yes, dad.”

_For their mother._

A group of six men came through the door, as Shoyou bowed respectfully. Each one was as loud and careless as his father. He knew most of them to a degree. Each one had beat him up more than three times.

“ ** _Now go get us more beer Shoyou._** ”

Shoyou walked into the kitchen to grab seven more cans of beer, and shuddered as he remembered the last time his father’s friends had shown up. He was fairly certain they had broken at least one of his ribs, probably did even more damage than that. He brought the cans out on a simple bamboo tray, setting a beer in each man’s hand.

“ **Hey, Hinata, what’s the boy’s punishment tonight? You’re even sharing beer with us again.** ”

Shoyou felt his heart drop. For his father to actually share alcohol isn’t a common occurrence, now that he’s thinking about it. The last time they had all shared beer like this was-Shoyou felt sick. They hadn’t shared beer with him around since he was nine. The horrors he had been put through during his six months of being trapped in a faraway place from his family had been unspeakable.

“ ** _Do whatever the fuck you want to him. He fucked up last night by lying to me._** ”

Shoyou knew there was no time to prepare for what was about to happen, nor a way to get away. He was trapped.

 

9:48

From: Sugawara-san

Hinata, is everything okay?

There’s something that I need to

Talk to you about.

 

9:56

From: Yamaguchi-kun

Shoyou, the entire team is freaking out

What the hell happened?

 

9:58

From: Bakageyama-kun

Dumbass, pick up the fucking phone

 

10:11

From: Captain-senpai

Hinata. Suga is in a panic

Where are you right now?

 

10:15

From: Yacchan

Hinata-kun, I found a lot of old

News stories about your father.

Are you okay?

 

10:17

From: Nishinoya-Senpai

Shoyou, whatever is happening

We need you to tell us something.

ANYTHING.

 

10:18

From: Tanaka-senpai

Hinata, you trust us, right?

 

10:23

From: Saltyshima

Hinata. I don’t particularly like you.

But I am your teammate and I’m

Worried about you.

 

As her big brothers phone kept playing a single note in repetition, Natsu couldn’t drown out the sounds of muffled screams from downstairs. But then Shoyou’s phone began to ring. Loudly. Panicking, she fumbled to press the green button like her nii-chan had shown her to do in case of an emergency.

“ _Hinata!_ Oh, thank God. Are you alright?”

Suga was relieved when the phone was answered. But all heard was very muffled shouts, and the smallest whimpering voice. Suga glanced at Daichi. He already had 911 dialed and was waiting for an answer at that moment.

“Is this Shoyou’s little sister?”

More whimpering. A loud scream. Then a click.

Suga felt his heart drop through the floor.

“I swear; I’m not crank calling you! There’s a real emergency at the-”

Suga looked at Daichi.

“Dai, we gotta get over there.”

 

By now it was midnight, and Shoyou had finally been left by himself. Natsu had heard the door slamming, along with drunken shouts, and she was able to pick out her father’s voice among them. She quietly unlocked her brother’s door, and made sure the coast was clear. She went to the bathroom and grabbed the softest towel she could find. She came downstairs, but froze at the sight of her brother. He was laying on the floor, unconscious. His clothes had been torn off, and she could see the bruises forming along with the old bruises. There was blood spattered everywhere, along with something white that she didn’t want to even look at.

“…Nii-chan?”

As she knelt down to look at his beaten face, she saw that his cheeks were wet, as if he had been crying before he fainted.

“w-wake up…please? Nii-chan, please wake up!”

She cried. Tears forming in her eyes. He moved, and she went quiet.

“N-Natsu…Go p-pack. We’re…we’re getting out…out of here. Away from… _him_.”

He didn’t open his eyes. But he was struggling to move. Natsu stood firmly by her brother as she wrapped her fluffy towel around him.

“Natsu? What…what are you doing? I told you to…pack…”

“I’m not leaving you nii-chan.”

Shoyou mentally grumbled about Natsu’s stubbornness. He felt her putting his hand on her shoulder. She was pushing upwards, gently. Maybe they could make it out of here by working together.

“Natsu, can you take me to the bathroom, please?”

“Mhm!”

Natsu was guiding her brother up the steps, towards the bathroom, sitting on the toilet.

“Do you want me to get you some clothes, Nii-chan?”

“Ye-yes please, Natsu.”

It took two hours for Shoyou to get ready to run away. Natsu was clinging to his hand, as the two walked out the door, into the cool night air. They didn’t even get halfway to Karasuno.

 

Daichi glanced at his phone. Almost 3 am. He was feeling groggy by now, but then he heard a little girl calling out.

“Nii-chan! Nii-chan, you can’t go to sleep yet! Please, you have to wake up!”

He wasn’t the first one to hear that voice. He locked eyes with a certain spiker from another team, and there was an unspoken agreement. They both looked cautiously towards the voice. They walked over quietly, and there was a little girl with fiery hair, crying on the chest of a boy. Before they could get closer to see if it was the missing Hinata siblings, a middle aged man let out a roar.

“ ** _YOU FUCKING PISSRATS REALLY THINK YOU CAN FUCKING RUN AWAY FROM ME?_** ”

Daichi saw red. He was on top of the old man before he could comprehend that someone was actually fighting back. Daichi grunted as he struggled to knock the man over. The spiker, Iwaizumi sprinted towards the man. Two against one. Could they win?

“ **Koushi!!** ”

Suga heard the panicked yell from Daichi, and flagged the rest of the team to investigate. When Suga saw the scene in front of him, he froze.

_No, not now! I can’t have an attack now, they need me!_

Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Asahi all joined the fight.

“Koushi, call the police, now!”

Daichi’s words snapped Suga out of his thoughts, as he struggled to get himself back under control.

_Just dial the numbers. It’s only three of them, come on Koushi. You can do this._

9-1-1

Call.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

Suga took a deep breath.

“I’m on the road, two blocks away from Aoba Johsai, and there’s an all-out brawl going on, and I think that there are two little kids involved.”

“I’m sending out an officer right now, what’s your name?”

“Sugawara Koushi.”

“Please stay on the line until dispatch arrives. Are you injured anywhere?”

“I had a mild panic attack, but I’m otherwise uninjured.”

**_“KOUSHI LOOK OUT!”_ **

The man had thrown himself at Suga, knocking the phone out of his hands. Suga was being crushed under his weight.

“Sugawara-san? Hello? Is everything alright?”

Suga was struggling against the bear of a man who was trying to choke him now. He never was very strong. But just when he thought he couldn’t handle it, Daichi and Asahi ripped the man off of him.

 

 

Sirens. Worried yells. Crying. Where was he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know. How dare I.


	7. A new beginning? Or the past haunts us...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga woke with a start.
> 
> “Koushi! Thank God. How are you feeling? The doctors said that you would only have some light bruising on your neck, but you should be okay otherwise. Hinata is still out cold, his little sister has been treated for a few minor injuries. Iwaizumi is looking after her for us, and Oikawa is on his way as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'ALL BETTER APPRECIATE THIS I FELL BADLY AT WORK THIS MORNING AND THOUGHT I DISLOCATED MY DOMINANT SHOULDER BUT I MADE A WHOLE ASS DRAWING AND A NEW CHAPTER

Suga woke with a start.

“Koushi! Thank God. How are you feeling? The doctors said that you would only have some light bruising on your neck, but you should be okay otherwise. Hinata is still out cold, his little sister has been treated for a few minor injuries. Iwaizumi is looking after her for us, and Oikawa is on his way as well.”

Suga looked at Daichi, feeling rather dazed from the sudden rush of information.

“Dai, where is Shoyou’s father?”

“Calm down, the police are holding him for questioning but need a solid case for extreme child abuse in order to put him away.”

Suga allowed himself to breathe again, as he stood slowly. There was no need for him to be occupying a bed that another patient may need. He had to get to Shoyou.

“Koushi, take it easy. The doc said that if you didn’t want to stay in the bed, that you could go and stat with Hinata. The entire team is camped outside the door to his room.”

Daichi rubbed a hand over his tired face. He hadn’t slept for at least 24 hours at this point. It was now 5 am. He needed some form of caffeine. Suga glanced at Daichi and noted how weary he looked. Daichi held out his hand to lead Suga to Shoyou’s room.

“C’mon, let’s get you to Hinata. The doc said he might be waking up soon.”

Suga took Daichi’s hand gratefully, and willingly followed him. Half of the team had fallen asleep, leaning against the walls. Nishinoya, Yamaguchi and Asahi were diligently guarding the door, exchanging quiet, concerned chatter with the nurses and doctors as they went in and out.

“Suga-san! How are you feeling?”

Nishinoya was the first to notice their fallen senior had risen once again. Asahi and Yamaguchi were leaning back-to-back on each other in an effort to stay awake. The team was very grateful that this unfortunate accident had occurred on the weekend.

“Alright, Koushi. You can go in, but I need to go get coffees. What does everyone…okay, everyone that is still awake want?”

Each person stated their request, and Daichi was off to the cafeteria. Eight coffees balanced carefully, four on each arm, Daichi made his way back up the stairs to his team.

“Ah, Sawamura-chan, do you need some help with those coffees?”

Daichi recognized the who the voice belonged to, but he was beyond being able to put a name to the face.

“That would be a great help..uh….remind me again of your name?”

“Ah, Oikawa Toru, Sawamura-chan. How long exactly have you been awake?”

Oikawa looked at his bleary eyed fellow captain and felt his concerns for the Karasuno team growing.

“I uh haven’t slept since Thursday night, Oikawa. Been too worried about Hinata, and Koushi’s been having a hard time dealing with this as well. Hell, Oikawa, I’ve never seen anyone look so beat up before.”

Daichi ran his one free hand through his hair, a sign of how stressful the situation was for the captain. Oikawa glanced at him worriedly. He had been privy to the accident that had happened when they had been first years, with Sugawara and his parents.

“Sawamura-chan, you’ve seen something similar though, haven’t you? Just how bad was this…?”

Daichi shook his head. He had never seen anything at this level. What he had seen of Hinata’s body made Suga’s past injuries look like child’s play, as much as he hated to admit it.

“Daichi-san! Careful. I was just picking up some breakfast for everyone.”

Both captains were surprised to see Tsukkishima carrying three bags full of food, enough to feed everyone. The three rode the elevator quietly, and quickly passed food and coffee around.

“Hey, Shittykawa.”

“Iwa-chaaaaaan! You can’t just text me at three am that you’re at the hospital with no other information!”

Karasuno’s team watched the bickering with blank stares, as they picked at their food and chugged their coffee.

“Oh, Shoyou. Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

Suga looked at Shoyou, who lay unconscious in his hospital bed, a heart monitor beeping steadily. Suga felt the tears falling down his cheeks, as he rested his head on his arms, folded on the side of Shoyou’s bed.

“Koushi…I brought you some coffee. All of us are gonna need some caffeine. Do you want me to stay in here too?”

“Please, Dai. I-I’m so scared for him. Do you think he’ll be okay? I remember when I had to…stay in a room just like this…”

Suga was clutching his coffee cup, as if it was his anchor, keeping him in the present day.

_I gotta be the strong one this time. Shoyou needs me. Just stay calm, Koushi._

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Daichi. His rock for the past three years. The person who had saved him. The love of his life.

“Hey. Koushi, take a deep breath. It’s okay. Hinata can get through this. We’ll be here for him. I just hope that he knows that.”

 

_Where am I? I…I don’t feel as much pain as I did last night…is…is someone crying? **NATSU!**_

“Wh-where is Na-Natsu?!”

“Shoyou! Shh. Natsu is safe. And so are you. It’s okay.”

_No I’m not! Dad swore he’d do something horrible to Natsu._

“Ah, Hinata-san, you’re awake. Sugawara-san, Daichi-san, there are officers here to speak with you and Hinata-san. I need to speak to Hinata-san privately, first, however.”

Suga and Daichi nodded their agreements to the nurse. As Suga was walking away, he felt a tug on his shirt.

“…Suga-san please don’t leave me alone…”

Shoyou had reached for the one person who had, in his mind, been there throughout this ordeal. Suga and the nurse exchanged a look, and Suga quietly asked the nurse if that would be okay.

“Well…given the circumstances, I believe it should be fine, Sugawara-san. I just need to ask him a few questions of my own and take another blood sample.”

Suga sat down on the edge of Shoyou’s bed and helped him to elevate the bed. As soon as Suga had set down, Shoyou was clinging to him.

“It’s alright, Shoyou. The nurse is just trying to help you, okay?”

Suga patted Shoyou’s hair lightly, as Shoyou shook fearfully.

“Now, Hinata-san, have you had any injuries like this in the past two years?”

“D-do I have to answer, Suga-san?”

“Shoyou, look at me. I know it’s scary. I’ve been where you are right now. But the nurse, the doctors, the police, and the whole team are all trying to help you. It’s gonna be okay. The police are holding your father until they can gather enough evidence to put him away. But you gotta work with us, okay?”

Shoyou nodded his head against Suga’s shoulder.

“Were you hurt like this in the last year, Shoyou?”

Shoyou felt as if he was going to burst in to tears, but he nodded truthfully, that yes, he had been hurt in much the same way within the past year.

“Shh. It’s okay, Shoyou. Hang in there. A few more questions, right, nurse?”

The nurse nodded in response.

 

10 minutes later, the nurse walked out of the room, and wondered at the number of teenagers camped outside this boy’s hospital room. She shook her head and went to let the officers know that they could come in to question the fearful boy.

 

“Iwa-chan, I remembered to bring your bag like you asked. Oh my, and who is _this_ little princess?”

Natsu giggled as Oikawa booped her nose. Iwaizumi sighed as he grabbed his phone to let their own team know what the current situation was. But Natsu’s sudden small scream brought him out of the long texts from his team.

“Nacchan, what’s wrong? Hey, look at me, it’s okay.”

Natsu was frozen in fear, and Iwaizumi was struggling to figure out why. Then he looked at the television that she had been watching. The news had just come on, and her father’s arrest was being played over, with her huddled against her unconscious brother, never leaving his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally feel like my arm is gonna fall off guys T.T


	8. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oikawa gently scooped Natsu up and walked to a different part of the waiting room, where there were no televisions.
> 
> “Nacchan, it’s okay. Your brother is being taken care of, and so are you.”
> 
> Natsu snuggled into Oikawa’s shoulder, as she thought of how her brother had always been her favorite superhero. But right now, she wanted to be his hero. She cried against Oikawa, as he rubbed small circles on her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I drew again :DDDD I tell you, these characters are a pain to draw (literally) I spent about an hour writing this chapter, tryna make it at least sorta accurate....Hope y'all like it!

Oikawa gently scooped Natsu up and walked to a different part of the waiting room, where there were no televisions.

“Nacchan, it’s okay. Your brother is being taken care of, and so are you.”

Natsu snuggled into Oikawa’s shoulder, as she thought of how her brother had always been her favorite superhero. But right now, she wanted to be _his_ hero. She cried against Oikawa, as he rubbed small circles on her back.

“Until we know where you’re going to be staying, Iwa-chan and I will look out for you, Nacchan! I promise you. And we’ll come visit you and make sure no one is hurting you guys. But it must’ve been scary for you. You are a very strong girl, you know that?”

Oikawa whispered to her, and she felt undeserving of being called strong.

“My nii-chan is a lot stronger…He always took care of me, and he made sure I had lots of yummy food. And he made my hair pretty, and he fixed my dresses when I ripped them too! Nii-chan is **_way_** stronger than me, Kawa-kun!”

Oikawa looked at the little girl, her eyes still moist, but glistening with such pride for her Nii-chan.

“I guess Chibi-chan is far stronger than I thought, Nacchan. I’m glad that he was able to do all those amazing things for you. Do you want to see if you can go talk to him now?”

Natsu nodded her head vigorously, she wanted to hug her Nii-chan until he felt happy again. Oikawa looked at the girl, admiration in his eyes. The Hinata siblings were far stronger than he had ever thought.

 

“Hinata-san, it’s nice to meet you. I am detective Nariko. We’ve met a handful of times before, do you remember?”

Shoyou nodded his head. She had been the detective who had found both him and Natsu in the past. He remembered how kind she was to them. But even so, he knew what that meant. She wanted to put his father away. For good.

“Are you ready to answer some questions for me?”

Suga was holding Shoyou in much the same way a mother would hold her child, and he could feel poor Shoyou shaking violently.

“Shhh, Shoyou. It’s okay. Are you ready?”

He nodded against Suga’s chest, and peeked at the detective, who had her partner with her this time. Nariko felt her heart break for the Hinata siblings a little more. She knew what was likely to happen.

“Hinata-san. I will begin asking questions now.”

Shoyou took a deep breath, and Suga held him a little tighter.

“Did your father beat you?”

A shaky nod.

“Did your father beat you more than once?”

A shaky voice came out.

“…H-he would be-beat me almost ev-everyday…”

Nariko felt her heart sink. She hated to ask this question, especially when she was very sure of the answer.

“Did your father ever rape you?”

Clutching Suga’s shirt tightly, tears falling he nodded his head.

“How many times did he do this?”

Shoyou was shaking so violently at this point that Suga shook right along with him.

“Shhh. It’s okay, Shoyou. Detective, I think that’s all of the questions that he can handle right now.”

“Sugawara-san, there’s one last thing I have to do. But I don’t think either of you are going to like it very much. I know that I don’t.”

Nariko felt horrible having to ask her final question. But she steeled herself and looked Shoyou in the eye.

“We need to take some pictures of your injuries, Hinata-san. We can put your father away, for sure this time. Okay?”

Shoyou knew that this question was coming. He had been asked this question several times in his life already. But having his current injuries photographed, where anyone could see them, made him feel sick. He didn’t want anyone to ever see what his father had done to him. He couldn’t breathe.

“Shoyou, look at me. Deep breaths. I’ll do them with you, okay?”

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Nariko watched curiously as the older boy walked Shoyou through his anxiety attack. The two looked close, and she was grateful that he had someone he could trust.

“Shoyou, do you want your father to be locked up so he can’t hurt you anymore?”

Shoyou sobbed onto Suga’s shoulder as he nodded that yes, he wanted that to happen.

“Can the detective take some pictures so she can lock him up?”

No answer, only more shaking and crying.

“I won’t leave you alone, Shoyou. I promise. I’ll be here with you the whole time, okay?”

“O-okay…”

He managed to whimper out. Nariko was beyond grateful for Suga being there. He seemed to be a calming presence for the abused Shoyou. She motioned for her partner to come over. Suga helped Shoyou out of the bed. Off came the shirt, and Nariko felt as if she may throw up. She could see clear foot prints on Shoyou’s chest, bruises in the shape of boots. Finger shaped bruises around his neck and hips. Cuts all over his lower back. She lowered the camera, knowing that this was enough, alongside the rest of the evidence she had gathered.

“Are we done here, detective? Shoyou can’t handle anymore.”

She nodded sadly at the older boy. She and her partner walked out of the room slowly. She remembered how Shoyou had always been willing to put himself in harms way for his baby sister. The two were walking down the hall, when she saw Natsu playing with two older boys, who she had been introduced to on her way to question Shoyou.

 

“I-I-I’m dis-disgusting”

Shoyou sobbed against Suga’s shoulder. He had never liked his injuries having to be photographed.

“No, you’re not, Shoyou. You are so strong, and I am so proud of you. When I had to do this, I felt much the same way you do now. But it’s going to get better. I promise you.”

Shoyou had looked up at his senior in shock. He had been in a situation like his? Suga chuckled sadly.

“Yes. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. To let you know that you weren’t alone. And that I would always be there if you needed to talk, or anything else.”

Suga stroked Shoyou’s back soothingly. His coffee sat on the table, ice cold now.

“Shoyou, I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that. I know those questions were hard. I know that it was scary, but now it’s over. Would you like to see the rest of the team?”

Shoyou looked up at Suga, eyes wide.

“Th-the rest of the team?”

“They’ve all been camped outside the door for hours. Iwaizumi and Oikawa are even here right now. They’re watching Natsu.”

Shoyou felt horrible. The whole team was right outside the door? And Natsu was playing with the Grand King and Iwaizumi-san??? How long had he been out?

A knock on the door.  

“Hello? It’s Oikawa and Natsu!”

Shoyou looked at Suga, a small amount of excitement in his eyes. He wanted to see his little sister. He wasn’t too keen to see Oikawa at the moment though.

“How about just Natsu comes in, Shoyou? I can stay in here with you, if you’d like?”

Shoyou nodded his head. He liked that plan very much. Suga stood and walked to the door, quietly talking with Oikawa. When he turned back to Shoyou, he had Natsu in his arms. Natsu had a few brightly colored band aids on her face, taking care of some scratches. Her hair was still a mess from the night before, much to Shoyou’s surprise.

 

“Nii-chan!! You’re okay!”

Suga gently set her down on Shoyou’s bed, and she felt a few happy tears drip down her cheeks as she hugged her big brother gently.

“Natsu, I’m glad you’re okay too! Nobody brushed your hair today?”

Natsu shook her head no.

“Do you want me to do your hair?”

“Yes please, Nii-chan!”

Shoyou’s heart swelled with pride for his little sister. Suga realized that Shoyou doing Natsu’s hair was something that both of the siblings loved to do together.

“Would you like me to go get some hair clips and hair ties, you two? A brush would probably be good too, I’m guessing?”

Suga asked with a soft smile. He remembered where Natsu’s bag was, thankfully. The two siblings nodded, and Suga was off, swapping spots with Yamaguchi for a few moments.

“Nii-chan, I was so scared for you. But Suga-nii-chan took good care of you, right? And Iwa-chan and Kawa-chan played with me while we were waiting for you to wake up!”

Yamaguchi watched the siblings having a very animated conversation, while he sipped on his fourth cup of coffee. He doubted he would get much sleep for quite a while. He understood Shoyou a little better, now that he saw how close he was with his sister. When he had gotten the call from Suga, he was out the door, on his way to help wherever he could. He had managed to rouse Tsukki as well.  He sighed in relief, knowing that the two would be safe now.

 

Suga knocked on the door, a pink, sparkly backpack in hand. Yamaguchi opened the door quietly, and they swapped places once again.

“Look what I found!”

Suga sung out to Natsu, whose face lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw her bag.

“Suga-nii! You found it!! Can you bring it over here so Nii-chan can choose the clips for my hair, pleeeease?”

Suga did as Natsu requested, and brought the bag over, where Shoyou and Natsu looked through it and discussed which clips Natsu wanted that day. Suga felt a sense of calm, watching the two enjoy something that made them both happy. 

 

 

(this shoulda been with the last chapter lmao sorry)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone was wondering I'm still sore from my fall lmao but I'm okay (uh sorta)


	9. The love of a brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The siblings sat together happily, with Shoyou struggling to put Natsu’s fiery hair into a ponytail.
> 
> “Nii-chan, are you okay?”
> 
> A sharp inhale.
> 
> “I’m just kinda sore, Natsu. Now, which clips did you want in your ponytails?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes I know my hands suck stfu

 

The siblings sat together happily, with Shoyou struggling to put Natsu’s fiery hair into a ponytail.

“Nii-chan, are you okay?”

A sharp inhale.

“I’m just kinda sore, Natsu. Now, which clips did you want in your ponytails?”

Suga watched in amazement as Shoyou still managed to move his aching limbs in rather complex ways, all because Natsu had wanted her hair “done all pretty”. He watched as Natsu excitedly handed her favorite clips to her brother-and yet she had a certain gentleness to her, as if she knew exactly what had happened.

 

“Dai, I’m beyond worried for those two. Who will they go to? Natsu is still so young, it’ll be a miracle if they can even stay together.”

Suga was taking a break from watching over the siblings. Kageyama had taken over, now that the two were fast asleep.

“Koushi, this might sound crazy-but what if we brought them to our home?”

Suga looked up in surprise. None of their team even knew they were dating, other than Asahi. They had been able to move into a small home, thanks to quite a bit of money that Daichi had inherited when they were in first year.

“Would we be able to handle that, Dai? Two new people in our house, and both are going to require a lot of attention. I overheard some nurses talking about it. Shoyou is going to be on several different medications after this. Even Natsu may need some antianxiety meds.”

Suga sighed into his hands. This had turned out to be an even bigger mess than they had anticipated. He thought back to how Shoyou had clung to him when his injuries were photographed. He felt chills course through his body at the memories.

“Koushi, we’re probably the best people to take them in right now. I’m not sure how this is going to work out for all of us, but we can get through it. Look at me. We’re going to help them.”

Daichi spoke softly, yet firmly, before wrapping Suga in a comforting embrace. The two were thoroughly exhausted, but they knew they had to find out how to go about this. But before they did anything, they needed food-and more coffee. On their way to the cafeteria, they ran into Iwaizumi and Oikawa-literally. Poor Suga’s mind was all over the place, wondering what their next step should be.

“Hey! You okay there, Sugawara-san?”

Suga stumbled backwards, into Daichi’s arms. Iwaizumi was holding a tray of food, but his concern for the vice-captain was obvious, as he balanced the tray in one hand. Stretching his other out to help Suga stand in a more dignified position.

“It looks like Mr. Refreshing isn’t so refreshed right now, Iwa-chan.”

Oikawa’s words were instantly met with three scowls.

“Shut up, Shitty-kawa. This is serious.”

Oikawa had always had the knack for saying precisely the wrong thing at the wrong time, Iwaizumi grumbled mentally.

“I-I’m okay, really. Just a bit shaken, is all.”

Suga attempted a weak smile, but that was all it took for the tears to start coming.

“Koushi, hey. It’s okay, they’re both gonna be okay. Why don’t you wait here with Iwaizumi and Oikawa, and I’ll get our lunch, okay?”

Suga nodded, as he choked back a sob. He had been okay. He thought he could handle it. But the situation was far too similar to the one he had left only 2 years earlier. He struggled to calm himself, as Daichi entered the cafeteria. Iwaizumi and Oikawa sat down, one on either side of Suga. The three volleyball players sat in silence, Iwaizumi rubbing soft circles on Suga’s shoulders; Oikawa occasionally stroking Suga’s trembling arms.

 

Daichi let out a quiet groan at the food that was available; nevertheless, he was determined to bring food that Suga would enjoy. He found some premade sandwiches, which actually didn’t look too horrible. He grabbed four, two each. He knew how much Suga would be on his case if he bought a dessert, but he deemed it fit for the situation, as he spotted an individually packaged slice of strawberry cheesecake. He grabbed it and was on his way for drinks. He hesitated at the coffee station-maybe Suga should give the coffee a rest for now. Mentally kicking himself, Daichi chose two cups of coffee and two large bottles of water. Finally, he grabbed two fruit cups, and off he went to pay.

 

“Can you take deep breaths with me, Sugawara-chan?”

Oikawa asked softly, as Suga shook violently. He shook his head no, he couldn’t.

“Look at me, breathe in.”

“Breathe out.”

“In.”

“Out.”

“In.”

“Out.”

Suga did his best to follow Oikawa’s instructions, and noticed how his breathing was slowly becoming more even. Oikawa knew how to help someone with an anxiety attack? Or was this one a panic attack? Suga pondered which it could be, as Daichi finally exited the cafeteria, an entire tray full of food on hand.

“They didn’t exactly have the best options to choose from, but I tried to get some stuff you would like, Koushi.”

“Ah, Sawamura-chan, perhaps, you two would like to join us for lunch?”

Daichi momentarily considered yelling at Oikawa, but instead glanced at Suga, who was sat between Iwaizumi and Oikawa, each one doing their best to help him calm down.

“…would you like that, Koushi?”

Suga nodded his head, his attack taking it’s toll on him. He felt as if he could fall asleep right here. But he needed to eat something first. And drink something that was not coffee.

“C’mon, Koushi, you can do it. Up you come.”

Daichi somehow managed to balance a tray full of food in one hand, while helping Suga up with the other. Iwaizumi and Oikawa were both impressed but made a point to not show it. Now that Suga was up, the four headed off to the waiting room. For the time being, it looked as if they were alone.

“So, Sugawara-chan, Sawamura-chan…What precisely has been going on with Chibi-chan all this time?”

Suga and Daichi shared a look full of concern, before they delved into the long, sad story of the Hinata siblings.

 

“Hurry up and heal, dumbass. I miss you.”

Kageyama whispered at the sleeping boy, his heart aching. He wanted to hunt down the person who had done this to his closest friend. He couldn’t help the small smile as Shoyou hugged his sister (Natsu, he had been told), even in his sleep. The bond between the two was truly an amazing thing to see. Kageyama sat down in the chair next to the bed and began thinking of all the signs of abuse that he could’ve seen, had he just looked. He kicked himself for not realizing what had been happening sooner. The first time he had noticed something different was when Shoyou had come to practice far too early. Kageyama had come because he had received a text from the redhead, that only said:

 

From: Dumbass Hinata

4:02

Meet me at the gym

Please

 

Once he had arrived, he saw the small boy leaning against the wall, hugging his knees. As Kageyama got closer, he had noticed the bruises all over Shoyou’s legs. Finally, he had looked up at Kageyama. He was crying, and Kageyama realized that he was very ill-prepared for this situation.

“Oi, Hinata. Are you okay? What happened?”

“I-I’m okay, Kageyama-kun. It’s just uh…my-my mom passed away last night, and I-I didn’t want to be alone.”

That was the only thing that Shoyou had said that morning. Kageyama had held him tightly as he cried. Neither boy spoke of the day again. It was their secret, and they knew they could count on each other. So why hadn’t he told him what was happening?

“I hope you’re okay. Cause if you’re not, I’ll kill your father.”

The words came out harsher than he had intended, and for a moment, he feared he had woken the siblings.

“K-Kageyama-kun?”

_Shit._

“Hey, dumbass. About time you woke up. How are you feeling?”

Shoyou looked at him in amazement. He was being so gentle with his words, and it felt rather odd, and yet-it was quite nice.

“I feel like somebody ran over me with a bus, honestly. But hey, Natsu’s okay. And that’s all that matters.”

“ _You idiot! You-you-you should have told one of us!_ Fuck, Hinata, we’ve all been worried sick about you. I…I was scared we might lose you, with how you were found. Hell, I feel like I should be hunting your father down right now. You matter. To all of us. You can’t take care of someone else, unless you take care of yourself first, you dumbass.”

Shoyou looked up at Kageyama in shock. He had expected an outburst like that from Suga, or Daichi. But Kageyama? He never would have thought it.

“I-I’m sorry, Kageyama-kun. It’s just that…he said he would hurt Natsu badly, maybe even kill her, if anyone found out. So I-I did what I had to do to survive. I’m not proud of it, but I am glad that never once did he lay a hand on Natsu, if I could help it. And I would do it all over again if it meant protecting her.”

Kageyama stood by his friend’s bedside, his mouth agape. He cared more for his sister than he did for himself.

“Hinata. Shoyou. Please, promise me you won’t ever do this again. Please.”

Kageyama took Shoyou’s wounded hand in his, begging his friend. Shoyou looked up at Kageyama, and was shocked to see tears streaking his cheeks.

“I-I promise.”

“Thank God.”

Kageyama used his free hand to wipe his eyes, as Shoyou squeezed his hand, as if he could offer some sort of reassurance.

Never again. He promised. If it ever happened again, he would tell someone. Anyone.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote and drew this after marathonning like...8-ish comic pages and I have regrets ;-;


	10. Kageyama's heart of gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shoyou was shocked to hear the trembling in Kageyama’s voice.
> 
> “I-I was so scared I-we were going to lose you. I’ve never been so scared of something in my entire life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'ALL I'M SO FUCKING TIRED AND SO IS KAGS

 

Shoyou was shocked to hear the trembling in Kageyama’s voice.

“I-I was so scared I-we were going to lose you. I’ve never been so scared of something in my entire life.”

Kageyama had been looking down at his feet but lifted his head to look Shoyou in the eye. Shoyou stared in awe at the taller boy, who had tears in his eyes. It wasn’t as if they had never seen each other cry. But this? Those were the tears of someone who thought he had lost someone he cared about deeply. Shoyou took a deep breath.

“I-I’m sorry, Kageyama-kun. I-I thought that I was doing the right thing, but I guess I wasn’t. All that I ever wanted…was to protect Natsu from him. He hurt her before, when she was very young. After that, I promised her, I would always protect her, no matter what. But I thought that my dad was finally out of the picture for good.”

Shoyou trembled as the memories returned vividly. Baby Natsu, with bruises and scratches all over her tiny body. He had overheard the doctors saying that she was lucky to be alive. He remembered how terrified he had been of his father from a very young age. But he also remembered that it wasn’t always like this. He remembered the good times, before his father had changed.

“Hinata-or would you rather be called Shoyou? You did something that most people could never fathom doing in their lives. You protected your little sister with your life, and that’s…admirable. But if you ever do anything like this again, I…I won’t toss to you anymore!”

Kageyama finished in a huff. But he couldn’t fool his best friend. Shoyou smiled softly, knowing that he had caused his setter-his best friend so much worry and anxiety.

“I think I would definitely prefer to be called Shoyou, Kageyama-kun. And….I’m really sorry, For everything. I feel like I could have put an end to this before-“

He was cut short by Kageyama putting a gentle finger to his lips.

“Shoyou, don’t you _dare_ blame yourself for this shit. It’s on your father for doing this. You did the only thing you could have done in that situation. You survived. And you protected Natsu. You saw those band aids on her face? Just a few scratches from the bush that you passed out in. From what she’s said, your father never hurt her, that she could remember.”

Shoyou looked at Kageyama in shock. He had always felt like he never did enough for his baby sister, and yet…Kageyama-kun said otherwise.

“But-“

“No buts. You gave up a lot of stuff for her. And I really am proud of you for what you’ve done, even if it makes me angry that anyone would do that to you. Even the nurses said that it was amazing. She’s in perfect health, physically. Mentally, they say that she has some issues with anxiety. (I’m not even supposed to know that though) But you…the nurses were wondering if you had been sacrificing your own needs for hers. Is that true?”

Shoyou looked away. He felt ashamed at the things he had to do in order to protect his sister. He knew that he definitely hadn’t been eating anywhere near enough for what seemed like a very long time. Kageyama grabbed his attention once again, as he grasped Shoyou’s hand, gently.

“Y-yes. I did what I had to do. And that meant a lot of dumpster diving. But I found a lot of food that was still good! I mean…. I wish I could’ve given Natsu better food, but I tried my best to give her tasty food. And I would find coins in dumpsters sometimes, too. So, I was able to get Natsu candies, and us a few essential things, you know? I hate that I had to go to such extremes, but I’m glad that I did.”

Kageyama felt his jaw hit the floor. As Shoyou quietly mumbled about the things he had done, he could feel his heart shatter with every word that came out of Shoyou’s mouth. He had known that it was bad, but not _that_ bad. He wanted to gather the tiny boy in his arms and protect him from harm. The two boys were startled out of their own thoughts when Natsu began to stir. Shoyou rubbed her back with a practiced hand, as if he had done this a million times over.

“D-does she have nightmares fairly often, Shoyou?”

He nodded his head yes. Just the gentle motions from her brother seemed to soothe her, and Kageyama wondered at their amazing bond. Shoyou looked up, directly into Kageyama’s eyes. When their eyes locked, Kageyama felt a surge of pride course through him. His best friend was officially the strongest person he knew.

“Kageyama-kun, I…I wanted to thank you, for checking on us. Even though it was really scary for you to suddenly show up with no warning, I think that’s part of what pushed us out, to where we are now. I feel like I owe you a lot.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Shoyou. Except maybe a smile every now and then?”

Kageyama had never been good with expressing how he felt, but he knew that he missed Shoyou’s bright smiles, and how they always managed to light up a room. Shoyou felt the tiniest hint of a smile forming, as he shyly looked down at his sister. Knocking on the door, Kageyama wiping his tears away. A familiar voice floats through the room.

“Shoyou, how do you feel?”

It was Suga-san!

“Ah, I feel a bit better with Natsu and Kageyama-kun here, Suga-san. Thank you.”

Suga breathed a sigh of relief, and Daichi knew that they could rest sometime soon, at long last. But first he had to talk to the doctors. Off he went, leaving the other members of the team in varied states of confusion. The first to break the silence was Noya, which came as no surprise to the rest of the team.

“So uh why are the captain and ace of Aoba Johsai here?”

Noya had never felt so confused and lost in his life. He had been kept out of the loop for what was going on with Shoyou, and he was beyond anxious for the energetic junior.

“Tch. They were with Daichi-san and Sugawara-san when Hinata was brought in. No one really knows why though.”

Tsukkishima would much rather be at home right now, rather than at the hospital. But, even though he would never admit it, he was worried for Shoyou just as much as everyone else was. They were all still struggling to be quiet, as Yamaguchi had at las managed to fall into a peaceful sleep, and Tsukkishima gave off the feeling that if anyone woke up Yamaguchi, he would murder them in cold blood and they would never find the body.

“Iwa-chaaan so mean!”

“Shut up Shitty-kawa, we’re in a hospital.”

The captain-ace duo rounded the corner to see several pairs of glaring eyes sitting right outside the hospital room door. Oikawa looked at the team and realized how hard this was hitting all of them.

“Hmmm. Why don’t you all come with us? We were going to head to Chibi-chan’s house to pick up his belongings. Sugawara-chan and Sawamura-chan both mentioned that some of you may like to join us?”

Several members of the team were on their feet in seconds. Noya and Tanaka were ready to head out in seconds. Even Asahi was ready to go. Tsukkishima only clicked his tongue in response. He had more pressing matters to deal with at that moment. Or, as he was thinking: _my boyfriend is trying to kill me on purpose goddamnit._

Of course, his thoughts and actions were perfectly hidden from most people. But not from Iwaizumi.

“Hey, glasses. Take care of him, and hold down the fort while we’re gone, got it?”

Tsukkishima looked up in surprise, to see Iwaizumi’s understanding eyes. He nodded slightly, as Kageyama slowly walked out of the room, visibly drained.

“Shoyou is sleeping again. It seems he’s been surviving on only a few hours sleep every night for months.”

Kageyama rubbed a hand over his tired face. He could barely comprehend who he was even talking to.

“Well, at least he can get plenty of rest now, right?”

Iwaizumi tried desperately to diffuse the ticking timebomb that was Kageyama. But rather than the frustration he usually showed, Kageyama sank to the floor, hugging his knees close to his chest. Iwaizumi looked at him quizzically, as his shoulders began to shake up and down violently. Iwaizumi sank down to the floor, and put a steady hand on Kageyama’s shoulder, causing the younger boy to look up, tears staining his cheeks.

“Hey, Hinata is going to be okay, Kageyama. Don’t worry. I know, you must be freaked out by all of this shit, and it’s probably only just now sinking in, right?”

Kageyama nodded his head shakily. Iwaizumi knew him better than most people realized, and for that he was grateful. Iwaizumi reached his arm out, taking the younger boy into a warm embrace. Kageyama could feel himself calming, knowing that Iwaizumi would not judge him for crying in this situation. But he could feel his fear rising as he remembered that Tsukkishima was watching.

“Hey, it’s okay, Kageyama. Breathe. It’s okay. With me?”

Kageyama managed a small nod against Iwaizumi’s shoulder, before finally releasing his senior. He felt his own exhaustion creeping in, as he leaned back against the wall. Kageyama could feel himself drifting off to a deep sleep, as Tsukkishima watched in shock. The king had been far more worried than he had let on.


	11. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a month since Shoyou was found near Aoba Johsai with his sister…He feels as if he’s going insane from the never ending nightmares. He felt truly sorry for waking up Suga and Daichi on his first night in their home, but there was nothing he could have done to prevent it. Every time he tried to sleep, his mind was filled with horrible, horrible images.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'ALL. THE R AND S KEYS KEPT STICKING ON THIS DAMN KEYBOARD BUT I DID IT. FIVE WHOLE PAGES.

It’s been a month since Shoyou was found near Aoba Johsai with his sister…He feels as if he’s going insane from the never ending nightmares. He felt truly sorry for waking up Suga and Daichi on his first night in their home, but there was nothing he could have done to prevent it. Every time he tried to sleep, his mind was filled with horrible, horrible images.

_Natsu is being abused harshly while he’s paralyzed._

Deep breath.

Try to forget.

_Dad and friends standing over him, making him do whatever they chose._

Don’t scream, it’s not real.

Shaky breathing.

_Mom. She’s furious at him for no protecting Natsu._

Please stop.

A worried cry.

 

“Shoyou! It’s okay, you’re safe, he’s gone. Look at me. Breathe.”

Suga held Shoyou tightly while he sobbed. He sighed in relief, once he realized Shoyou was in no immediate danger. He looked at the dark circles around Shoyou’s eyes, and he knew the nightmares were getting worse, rather than getting better.

“Shh. It’s okay. Can you tell me your name?”

“H-Hinata Shoyou”

“And where are you right now?”

“A-at Daichi-san and Suga-san’s h-house.”

“That’s right. You’re safe.”

“I-I’m safe.”

Suga was grateful that the nurses had shown him calming techniques, in case of an incident like this one. Shoyou was relaxing once more, and Suga realized there was no way in hell that Daichi was getting a welcoming committee when he came back home. He had volunteered to be a chaperone for Natsu’s class camping trip, leaving Suga and Shoyou by themselves. Which would be fine, other than Suga’s own anxiety and bad memories coming back to haunt him. He was far from being the best person to help Shoyou, in his own opinion.

But he couldn’t help the pride he felt for the battered boy who was now laying on his chest, exhausted. He gently ruffled the soft, fiery hair, as he had often done. Shoyou relaxed further, at the familiarly comforting feeling. It was barely 3 am, Shoyou had at least managed to sleep later that night. Suga looked at Shoyou, compassion in his eyes. He remembered the nightmares he had had in first and second year. He still had them, every now and then. But Shoyou’s nightmares were extreme. Suga sighed quietly as he realized he still needed to talk to Kageyama about collecting Shoyou’s schoolwork from the past month. But right now, it was just him and Shoyou. He and Daichi had managed to gain custody of both the Hinata siblings, thanks to a great deal of support.

 

“Aaaah! It’s good to be home, eh Natsu?”

Natsu giggled as Daichi ruffled her hair. She loved playing with her brother’s friends, and even better, they both got to stay with them now!

“Yes!”

“Koushiiii, we’re home!”

“Daichi-nii, maybe he’s still sleeping?”

Daichi glanced at the clock- 9:45. He was surprised, Suga never slept in-not that he could remember, anyway. The two headed to Shoyou’s bedroom first, and there they saw an adorable scene. Shoyou was clinging to Suga, as if he was his lifeline, Suga was lightly holding him, a soft smile on his sleeping face. It was the most peaceful either had looked in weeks. Daichi and Natsu shared a wide grin, as Daichi snapped multiple pictures of the two boys. Daichi beckoned Natsu to follow him, and off they went.

 

“How about we make some breakfast to surprise our boys, eh, Natsu?”

“YEAH! Nii-chan’s favorite is pancakes and bacon!”

Daichi couldn’t’ help but laugh at her sudden outburst.

“Okay, but we have to be quiet, remember?”

Natsu held her finger to her lips as she nodded solemnly.

“Now, let’s _not_ blow up Koushi’s kitchen, okay?”

Daichi remembered the last time that he and Natsu had tried to cook. He shuddered at the thought. Clearing his throat, he grabbed the cookbook, determined to not mess anything up this time.

 

Suga and Shoyou finally woke up, a mass of entangled limbs. Suga woke up first, realizing that Shoyou was still laying on top of him, just starting to stir. He looked over at the clock, and realized it was nearly eleven!

“Suga-san…I smell something good…”

Shoyou mumbled, as Suga himself sniffed at the air, and sure enough, he smelt it as well. The two sleepy boys struggled to disentangle themselves, as they heard pounding feet, that could only belong to Natsu.

“Nii-chaaaaan! Suga-niiiii! Breakfast is readyyyy!”

They were greeted by the sight of Natsu, wearing one of Suga’s aprons, and covered in flour, as well as various other ingredients. Suga cringed as he thought about what the two had done to his kitchen, but hid it well, knowing that Natsu was excited.

“Okay, okay, we’re coming, Natsu! We’re coming!”

Suga managed to finally escape Shoyou’s bed, and reached his hand for the other boy to take. Shoyou carefully got up, and they were on their way to whatever it was that Daichi and Natsu had prepared for them.

“Ah, Koushi! You guys are finally awake. Surprise! And no, we didn’t light anything on fire this time, I swear.”

Suga chuckled as Daichi greeted him and let him know they didn’t destroy his kitchen all in one breath.

“Welcome home, Dai. Did Natsu behave herself? I’m guessing she must’ve, for you to be going to all this trouble.”

Shoyou was preparing to sit, when he was hit by a sudden ball of energy.

“Nii-chan! We did all kinds of fun stuff! And we caught fireflies, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, and we pitched the tents _twice_!!!”

“Wa-you had to pitch the tents _twice_?! Why? You’ll have to show me the pictures you took, Natsu!”

Daichi and Suga looked at Shoyou, shock in their eyes. He hadn’t been very energetic himself, since they brought him home.

“Because when Daichi-nii said ‘pitch the tents’ all of the boys threw them down a hill…and we tried to pitch them, but all of the boys wound up sleeping in Daichi-nii’s tent with him!”

Suga could not hold back any longer.

“Daichi…you-you poor soul…”

Suga was doubled over with laughter, and before long, they were all laughing. When Shoyou laughed, they all felt as if he had just taken a major step forward. Suga felt tears forming in his eyes, as he realized that Shoyou had genuinely laughed.

 

 

“Suga-san…I think I want to go back to school now.”

Suga looked up from his book in surprise.

“A-are you sure, Shoyou? You don’t have to go back until you’re ready, you know that, right?”

“Y-yeah. But I miss everyone. And I’m already so behind.”

“Hm. Daichi and I will talk about it, and I’ll let you know as soon as we decide, okay?”

Shoyou beamed.

“Okay!”

He rushed off to his room, where he finally responded to Kageyama’s texts. He hadn’t been answering him for about two weeks. He just couldn’t find the energy to do it. But now? He felt like he was finally getting somewhere. Maybe he was moving on, finally.

7:03

From: Dumbass Hinata

Kageyama-kun!

I might be able to come

Back to school! I’m so excited

I hope you are too!

I’m sorry for not answering your texts sooner

ಥ_ಥ

Do you forgive me?

 

Kageyama stared at his phone in shock. He had been preparing to go see him today. After all, he had finally collected all of the schoolwork that Shoyou had missed. He decided to just head over, and surprise his best friend, whether he liked it or not.

 

Shoyou frowned at his phone. It’s been ten minutes, why hasn’t he answered yet? Maybe he was really mad at him this time. A knock on his bedroom door startled him out of his thoughts.

“Come in.”

He was distracted, and at first, didn’t realize who was at the door.

“Kageyama-kun!”

He launched himself toward Kageyama, in some sort of flying bear hug. Kageyama caught him with a small groan.

“I-It’s good to see you too, Shoyou.”

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry!”

Shoyou quickly realized that his hugs, while welcome, were often difficult to breathe during. He lightened his grip, and Kageyama took a deep breath.

“Jesus, Shoyou! Anyway, I did get your texts. I didn’t respond because I wanted to surprise you.”

There was Kageyama’s struggle to smile, and Shoyou grinned. He had missed Kageyama.

“I think I’m ready to come back, Kageyama-kun. I have a lot of catching up to do, but I want to come back.”

Kageyama didn’t have time to say a word, before Suga and Daichi came up behind him.

“Good news, Shoyou! You can go back to school on Monday! We’ve already talked to the teachers and everything, so you don’t have to worry about any of that, okay?”

Shoyou felt happier than he had in a long time. Maybe he could put the past behind him after all.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh this was really nice to write tbh ;v;


	12. A Good Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shoyou woke up, having slept without nightmares, thanks to the new medications he was finally taking. He looked out the window, and saw the sun shining on his little sister and Suga. They were out gardening, one of their favorite things to do together. He sighed, looking at the framed pictures that now adorned his dresser. One of him and Kageyama, the same one that he knew Kageyama had the duplicate of. He loved that picture. The one right next to it was of him, Natsu, and their mother. Still another frame had Just Natsu, showing off a frilly, pink dress. Next to that one, a picture of the siblings, Daichi and Suga. The couple had made it their mission to be a real family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'ALL I NEED TO STOP FALLING ON MY FUCKING FACE CUZ IT HURTS

 

 

“You guys really are amazing”

As he swung his legs off the bed, he needed to get up. Things had really started to change now. Suga and Daichi had been given nicknames by Natsu, and they stuck to them like glue. Dadchi and Sugamama. Shoyou stifled a chuckle as he remembered the first time she had used said nicknames for the two. Confused, they had just rolled with it.

“Ah, Shoyou. How are you feeling?”

Daichi had just returned from his morning run, and had nearly collided with the drowsy Shoyou. Shoyou let out a quiet yawn, which received a soft smile from Daichi.

“I slept really good last night. And I’m kinda hungry. A little.”

Shoyou still hesitated to say when he was hungry, but even those few words made Daichi realize just how much progress they had all made.

“How about I’ll start breakfast, and you can go shower? I’ll let Koushi and Natsu know it’s time to come in soon, okay?”

A sleepy nod as Shoyou went off to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror, and realized he was starting to look like himself again. The bruises were almost entirely gone now, although there was still slight discoloration in some places, not to mention the general soreness. Looking at himself, he tried smiling.

Sudden flashback to when he had last looked in a mirror purposely.

Happy tears.

“I…I made it mom. _We_ made it.”

His mother had always taken the time to tell him that they would always make it through whatever obstacles they came across. He missed her, but he had grieved for her for too long, rather than doing what she had made him promise to do.

 

_“Shoyou…look at me. Listen. I’m not…I’m not going to survive this. But you have to promise me something, okay? Promise me, you will live a happy life someday. And that Natsu will too. Can…Can you promise me…that-instead of simply sur-surviving, you two…will **live**?”_

_He nodded his head, as his mother began to slip away from him. He promised. And he always kept his promises._

 

A deep breath as he looked at his reflection once again. He was far from being entirely recovered, but he was on his way, and he knew it.

 

 

“Okay, so the directions say to just mix this with water before cooking. How hard can that be?”

Daichi regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. He was going to make this a nice breakfast if it killed him. Groaning he set about making the simple pancakes.

“Is pancake batter supposed to look like glue”

“OH SHI-“

“Koushi please don’t kill meeee”

“HAH”

Daichi could devise many complex strategies, yet struggled with making pancakes from a mix. He somehow managed to get the mixture all over his face, in his hair, and somehow inside of their fridge. Internally screaming, Daichi rushed to clean up the mess, after pouring batter for four pancakes into the already warming pan.

_“hesgonnakillmehesgonnakillmehesgonnakillmehesgonnakillme”_

Was all that was going through Daichi’s mind as he scrubbed the fridge desperately. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Nothing was on fire, he could handle this. _Wait-_

Panicking, he rushed over to flip the pancakes, and was relieved to see a golden brown color, and not charcoal black. Now that he had finished with the fridge, he began his next task-bacon and eggs.

 

Natsu and Suga were both hunched over several flowers, making sure there were no weeds.

“Natsu, are you _suuuure_ you got all of the weeds?”

She let out the cutest giggle, as Suga tickled her nose with a dandelion.

“Yes!”

“Hmmm. What do _you_ think, Mr. Dandelion? Did Natsu get out all of the weeds?”

“You’re silly!”

“Well, let’s take a look at the flowerbeds, Natsu and Mr. Dandelion!”

 

Shoyou watched from the window. He couldn’t help the grin that he felt spread across his face. He was thrilled that Natsu was so happy here.

“I should proooobably get dressed though. Hm…Oh, I know! I’ll wear that new sweater today!”

Suga and Daichi had made a point of getting the siblings newer, more comfortable clothes. Shoyou slipped the sweater on, and smiled at how soft it felt on his skin. Pulling on a pair of loose, brown pants, he decided to head to the kitchen to see if Daichi needed any help with breakfast. To his surprise, the table was already set, and had a plate stacked with pancakes in the center, with bowls of fruit, eggs, bacon, and rice surrounding it.

“Shoyou! Can you give me a hand with clean up? Quickly! They’ll be coming in soon, I’m begging you!”

He stifled a laugh, as he nodded his head, and entered the kitchen.

“Dadchi, He’s gonna kill you.”

“Please just help me Shoyou”

Daichi was silently pouting as he worked on the somehow caked in pancake batter stove. Shoyou started on the dishes and the sink. The kitchen was a disaster zone. Thankfully they were able to clean it to acceptable standards before Natsu and Suga came back inside.

“…Dai, did you cook breakfast?”

Daichi chuckled as he looked down at his apron, which was covered in various stages of their breakfast.

“Well uh…yes!”

Suga chuckled as he and Natsu walked to the sink to wash their hands.

“Alright Natsu, let’s hurry so we can see what Dadchi made for us!”

“Okay, Sugamama!”

Shoyou and Daichi headed to the table to wait for the pair of gardeners, and Shoyou felt his mouth begin to water. Daichi may have destroyed the kitchen, but he must have made a delicious meal in the process!

 

 

The four had decided to walk around town for the rest of their day, and Shoyou couldn’t keep himself from picking up his little sister every chance that he got.

“Nii-chaaaaan! Spin me, spin me! Pleeeease!!!”

“Okay, Natsu. But remember…you asked for this!”

Shoyou spun around as fast he could, as Natsu screamed with joy the entire time. Suga and Daichi had been buying ice cream for all of them when they walked out of the store and Suga nearly had a heart attack.

“You….two….are going to _kill_ me if you keep this up!”

The siblings apologized in unison:

“We’re sorry, Sugamama!”

After that incident, they decided to call it a day and head home, but they decided to get some pork buns for dinner first.

Shoyou fell asleep that night, and slipped into peaceful dreams of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff, meet angst. 
> 
> THIS CHAPTER MADE ME SO HAPPY TO WRITE TBH


	13. The Sun Will Shine, But The Rain Will Pour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shoyou felt as if the walls were closing in on him. He couldn’t breathe. He fumbled his way out of the gym and into the club room. He made it to a corner where he could try to ground himself.
> 
> Breathe, Shoyou, breathe.
> 
> He could hear Suga’s voice, and although it only calmed him slightly, he was grateful.
> 
> “Hinata, are you alright?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kay so I'm so tired I forgot how to spell fucking CAR so I'm off to bed y'all

 

 

Shoyou felt as if the walls were closing in on him. He couldn’t breathe. He fumbled his way out of the gym and into the club room. He made it to a corner where he could try to ground himself.

_Breathe, Shoyou, breathe._

He could hear Suga’s voice, and although it only calmed him slightly, he was grateful.

“Hinata, are you alright?”

Asahi-san. Shoyou shook his head, breathing shallow, struggling to deepen each breath.

“Hey, look at me. It’s okay. Breathe with me.”

Shoyou struggled to concentrate on his senior’s words, but eventually was able to breathe deeply once more.

 

It’s been two months since Shoyou returned to the team, and four since he had come back to school. He sighed as he lowered himself onto the bleachers, notebook in hand. Daichi had pulled from practice for the day, due to his panic attack exhausting him. He figured that he may as well at least try to get some homework done.

“Hinata, how are you feeling?”

Kageyama had grown noticeably kinder to Shoyou, and it showed in his gentle tone. Shoyou looked up, directly into his best friend’s worried eyes.

“I-I’m okay, Kageyama-kun. But I’m not allowed to practice today, because of earlier…”

Kageyama noted the subtle shaking of Shoyou’s head, an indicator that he wasn’t feeling as well as he said. In the months since those horrible days of learning the truth about the Hinata family, Kageyama had been struggling to learn how to better help his friend.

“I’ll give you extra tosses tomorrow, then, okay?”

Kageyama never could get over the way Shoyou’s eyes sparkled whenever he played volleyball. But he knew that Shoyou was truly struggling in his recovery.

“R-really, Kageyama-kun?!”

A soft smile, that only Shoyou ever got to see.

“Really, dumbass.”

Kageyama ruffled Shoyou’s hair before heading back to practice, himself. Shoyou smiled to himself, watching Kageyama head back to the court, before turning back to his notebook.

“Nii-chan!”

Shoyou barely had time to comprehend that Natsu was in the gym, let alone be prepared for her to be launched at him.

“Natsu! What are _you_ doing here, silly girl?”

Shoyou asked with a chuckle, as Suga appeared behind her.

“We finished up practice at her school early today, so we decided to come see everyone!”

Suga had been balancing being an elementary volleyball team coach, vice-captain, student, and unofficial mother of the two siblings for quite some time. Natsu was still wearing her ‘uniform’, one that she had decided would be the only thing she wore for volleyball: a t-shirt with the same number as her brother in the middle of the front and back, and bright orange shorts. She had quickly become Karasuno’s mascot, as she was always there for their games.

“Shoyou, we do need to head out early today, actually. We have a few things to get done, okay?”

Shoyou grimaced at Suga’s words. He knew he had an appointment with his therapist today, but he most certainly did not want to go to it. Nevertheless, he still went.

 

 

“I know you hate these appointments, Shoyou, and I wish you didn’t have to go to them. But she’s trying to help you, I promise. Just like she’s helping Natsu.”

Shoyou knew that already. But that didn’t make talking about his parents any easier. His therapist, Allie, was incredible, he couldn’t deny that. But it was her job to help him get through his traumas, as she called them.

 

“Shoyou, how have you been this week?”

“I-uh-I-I had a panic attack before practice again today…”

“Do you have any idea of what might have caused it?”

“Maybe it was because it was louder in the gym than normal?”

Shoyou sighed as she wrote on her clipboard. He hated that everything was recorded in such a way.

“So, you think it may have been the loudness. Let me see here…the last time you had a panic attack before practice, you felt that it was caused by your teammates being loud and getting too close to you…”

“Yes.”

“I believe we may have just found one of your triggers, Shoyou. Loud noises.”

Shoyou looked at her in disbelief. Him? One of the loudest people on the team was triggered by loud noises? He thought back to the night before he woke up in the hospital. It had been so loud, he had felt like he would go deaf. And with that thought, he realized that this trigger made perfect sense.

“Okay, Allie, but what do I do to stop having panic attacks so often?”

“Well, let’s see what we can do, okay?”

 

“Natsu, Koushi, Shoyou! I’m ho-ome!”

Daichi called into the quiet house, confusion meeting him when there was only silence. They should have been back by now, right? He glanced at the clock in the living room: 8:46. Concern growing, he fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed Suga’s number.

“Dai! Sorry, we got caught up at the grocery store, we’re almost home now!”

Daichi couldn’t stop the wave of relief he felt when he heard Suga’s voice.

“Okay, love. I’ll see you all soon!”

Suga hung up his phone, and finally started his car. He looked over at Shoyou, head resting against the window as he napped.

“Okay, Natsu. Let’s be quiet, so we don’t wake up Shoyou.”

Natsu nodded her head vigorously, as she held a finger to her lips.

 

Finally home, Suga looked once again at the sleeping Shoyou, and knew he couldn’t just wake him up.

“Koushi, maybe next time, bring him home _before_ you two get groceries, okay?”

Daichi suggested, as he lifted the frail boy into his arms. He was pleased to notice that Shoyou had been eating more again, although he was still rather light.

“Our little sunshine is looking through the raining clouds, Dai. He’s making a lot of progress lately.”

Daichi and Suga looked at each other, happy tears in their eyes, as Daichi finally took the sleeping boy to his bed. Suga looked down at Natsu, and picked her up. She was beginning to get sleepy as well, so Suga had her go and get changed into her pajamas.

Even thought Shoyou had his setbacks, he was still recovering quite well, and his whole new family was very proud of him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw thanks for all your comments! they give me life tbh


	14. Life Goes On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daichi and Suga were dancing around their small living room, enjoying a rare night to themselves. They weren’t able to go on dates very often, something that had always bothered them, but they had other ways of simply being together. They held each other close, remembering their first date. It had been one of their first days after finishing their first year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'ALL. I'VE BEEN TRYNA WRITE THIS FOR A LONG ASS TIME AND I HAVE FOUND MYSELF RATHER CONSUMED IN THIS AU. ALSO I NEARLY THREW HANDS WITH A 70 YEAR OLD MAN YESTERDAY SO FUCK ALL THAT

 

 

Daichi and Suga were dancing around their small living room, enjoying a rare night to themselves. They weren’t able to go on dates very often, something that had always bothered them, but they had other ways of simply being together. They held each other close, remembering their first date. It had been one of their first days after finishing their first year.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

They had spent the whole day together, struggling to be seen as just friends. But then they went to Daichi’s home, where his parents had been waiting to meet Suga.

“Koushi, don’t worry, they’ll love you!”

“But…but what if...?”

“Hey, when I came out to them, they didn’t treat me any differently. Well, other than “The Talk”.”

Suga couldn’t help but allow himself to giggle softly at Daichi. He had calmed down a bit, but he was still nervous. He clung to Daichi’s arm, as they walked towards the door. Suga heard the door click, but he couldn’t bring himself to unbury his face from Daichi’s arm.

“Koushi, it’s okay. I’m right here. This is my mom, Hana.”

Daichi felt remarkably odd at saying his mother’s name.

“Hello, Sugawara-chan. It’s quite all right. May I at least see your face?”

Suga peeked at Daichi’s mother, and was astounded at her quiet beauty. He could easily tell that she had had a hard life, by the amount of gray in her hair, as well as the tired look in her eyes. He wanted so badly to trust this woman, but he felt as if he could never trust an adult again.

“Aren’t you two beautiful together? Come inside, come inside.”

 

Suga and Daichi sat at the small table, as Hana walked around, making sure that all of the dishes were in their proper places.

“Please forgive our simple meal tonight, Sugawara-chan; this was all we are able to currently afford. I’m afraid my husband will be rather late coming home tonight, as well. But that gives us all quite some time to get to know each other!”

Suga looked at the meal in surprise-it was far more than his parents had ever given him. He shuddered at the memories of his parents.

“I-it’s alright, Sawamura-san. It all looks wonderful!”

Daichi gave Suga’s hand a squeeze under the table, as Hana at last joined them at the table. The three ate, as they talked about their days, school, work. Anything that didn’t have to do with Suga’s past. Their content chattering came to a halt when the phone rang.

“Is…is it dad?”

“I think so. It’s rather early for him to be calling home though.”

“Hello?”

“Hi honey. There was a minor incident-no one was hurt, but we’re now about a week behind, so I’m afraid I’ll have to meet Sugawara-chan some other time. Tell Daichi I’m sorry, please? I love you, and I’ll see you soon.”

She heard a muffled explosion as he spoke.

“Alright dear. Is everything okay?”

“Ahahaha, yes, but I do need to go find out what they managed to explode this time, I love you, bye!”

She couldn’t help the small chuckle as her husband worriedly called into the phone.

 

“Daichi, your father won’t be able to make it in time to meet Sugawara-chan, and he asked me to apologize for him.”

Suga looked between the two quizzically. Did that mean he would have to wait to meet Daichi’s father?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What are you thinking about, love?”

Suga was resting his head on Daichi’s shoulder, as the two danced slowly.

“Our first date, when I met your mother.”

They shared a soft chuckle at the memory.

“Remember how mom was so embarrassed by dinner that night?”

“Yes, but I also remember that it was a much bigger meal than what _I_ was used to back then.”

Daichi sighed, as he held Suga closer.

“I wish we could stay like this forever, Koushi.”

“Me too. But we have a big family now, don’t we?”

They stopped their dancing, and looked at the pictures that now adorned their walls. Sure, there were plenty of pictures of the team, but now they had pictures of just them, along with several pictures of the Hinata siblings. But their favorite picture was the one in their largest frame, Daichi had Natsu on his shoulders, Suga panicking behind them, with Shoyou and Kageyama, arms around each other, in the background. The rest of their team was scattered throughout the picture. Even Daichi’s parents had been captured by the photographer.

“We do.”

The sound of Daichi’s phone startled them out of their memories. Daichi could feel his chest getting heavier. He had put his phone on a do not disturb setting, with only emergency contacts being able to reach him.

 

 

From: Mom

8:43

Daichi

Your father is in

The hospital meet

Me there.

Hurry.

 

Daichi felt his heart fall through his stomach, as he wordlessly showed Suga his phone.

“Dai, we’re going to the hospital. Get your things together, okay?”

Suga struggled to stay calm, Daichi needed to be able to lean on him now. He only hoped that whatever had happened, could be fixed.

 

“Yes, would it be possible for Shoyou and Natsu to stay the night with you? Daichi’s father is currently in the hospital, and we’re on our way there right now.”

“Of course they can, Sugawara-chan! Tell Sawamura-chan not to worry about your baby crows!”

Oikawa sounded cheerful and peppy over the phone, much to Suga’s irritation. He hated how cheerful he sounded whenever they spoke. But at least the Hinata siblings had a safe place to stay for the night. Suga glanced at Daichi, who was typing furiously on his phone, likely texting his mother.

“Dai, it’s gonna be okay. Oikawa wanted me to tell you not to worry about ‘our baby crows’. Are you texting your mother right now?”

“Uh yeah. Remind me to thank Oikawa later? Mom says that it was another accident at work. Koushi, I’m so worried about dad. What if he can’t pull through this time? He’s already had so many injuries from work, what if this is the last one?”

“Dai, look at me. Breathe. He’s your dad, he’ll be okay, I know he will. Also we’re here. Do you know if he can be seen yet?”

“I…I don’t even know where he is right now Koushi…”

Suga sighed, as he took out his phone, and dialed Hana’s phone number.

“Suga-chan! Thank God, please tell me you’re the one driving.”

“Yes, I’m the one driving. Sawamura- chan, can you tell us where we need to go? Okay, so he’s…dear god, surgery? We’ll meet you in the waiting room, okay?”

Suga hung up his phone, as Daichi looked at him, face pale.

“…s-surgery?”

“He’s holding steady now, Dai. But yes, he’s having surgery right now. Come on, you and your mother need each other right now.”

Daichi let Suga lead him into the hospital as he struggled to process what had happened. He barely registered Suga asking a nurse where they needed to go.

 

“Daichi! Suga-chan! Oh, I’m so glad you’re both here!”

Hana’s face was stained with tears, but she gathered the two boys close to her, in a loving hug.

“Mom, how is he? What happened? Why is he in surgery?”

“Daichi, calm down, please. There was an accident at work, and he was partially crushed by some of the machinery. He’s in surgery for a variety of different lacerations, and um…they’re trying to save his arm.”

Daichi felt as if his world would never stop spinning.

“Dai, look at me. It’s okay. Here, sit down, I’ll see if I can find a nurse who knows how it’s going.”

“No, Suga-chan, I’ll look. The nurses already know me anyway. Please, stay with my son? He needs you right now.”

Suga looked at Daichi, and knew she was right. His world was falling to pieces. They heard a soft knock on the door, before a nurse appeared.

“Ah…Sawamura-san? Your husband will be okay. It will be a long recovery, and he likely won’t wake up for some time after the surgery is completed. But the doctor’s asked me to let you know he would survive. Not only that, but they were able to save his arm. He’s very lucky to have survived this.”

The nurse looked at the three people, who were clearly relieved at the news. Daichi was clinging to Suga, as his tears at last escaped.

 

 

“Wheeeere is Nacchan??? Chibi-chan, where has your sister hidden?”

Shoyou couldn’t contain his laughter at Oikawa’s silly antics, as he pointed out his little sister hiding behind Iwaizumi. The siblings had been delighted to hear that they would be spending the night at the Oikawa’s household.

“Nii-chaaaaaaan!”

“Hey now, that’s a declaration of war Shoyou!”

Iwaizumi put Natsu on his shoulders as he walked towards Shoyou.

“We’re gonna getcha!”

As Iwaizumi got closer, Shoyou could feel a panic attack forming. This was too similar to That Night.

“W-wait, Iwaizumi-kun. P-please?”

Natsu lightly smacked Iwaizumi’s head, before he lifted her off his shoulders, and set her on the ground. She ran towards Shoyou, and gave him the biggest hug she could manage. She had been taught how to help him calm down as well, and she was grateful for that.

“Nii-chan, look at me! We’re gonna take deep breaths together, okay?”

Shoyou nodded his head at Natsu, as she held up her tiny hand and counted on her fingers, showing that each inhale was five seconds, and so was each exhale. Iwaizumi and Oikawa watched in amazement as Natsu helped her brother with his panic attack.

“Thank you, Natsu. Um…can we m-maybe watch a movie now?”

“Of course! What would you guys like to watch?”

Oikawa knew that he shouldn’t treat Shoyou any differently after a panic attack, but he also knew that they took a lot out of the small boy. Natsu’s eyes lit up.

“Totoro! Totoro!! Pleeease!!!”

The older boys all agreed with Natsu, they enjoyed that movie as well.

45 minutes later, the siblings had fallen asleep, cuddled together on the Oikawa’s couch. Oikawa looked at his phone, an update on Daichi’s father.

 

From: Mr. Refreshing

10:23

Daichi’s father is stable

We’ll be heading home

In the morning, and we’ll

Pick up Shoyou and

Natsu around 1, sound

Good?

 

Oikawa let out a breath of relief.

“Hey Shittykawa, what’s the matter?”

Oikawa handed over his phone, showing Iwaizumi the conversations he had had with Suga that day.

“Shit man, I hope Sawamura’s doing okay with that.”

“Iwa-chan, he sounded like his world had been destroyed when Sugawara-chan called me earlier. But hopefully he’s okay now. Since the siblings are asleep, I suppose we should get some rest as well.”

Iwaizumi nodded his head in agreement, as they walked to Oikawa’s room. They were used to sharing a bed, it no longer fazed them. They often insisted they weren’t dating, but often went ignored in that matter, due to a handful of heated events that their team had witnessed. Oikawa laid down on his bed, and soon felt the strong arms of Iwaizumi around him.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to be a couple, Iwa-chan?”

“Shut up Toru. Maybe we should just tell the team that we’re dating. And everyone else so they’ll stop bothering us.”

Iwaizumi felt Oikawa sigh deeply. They had both been struggling to keep their relationship under wraps. He held Oikawa tighter, as he felt the tears of frustration coming.

Oikawa shifted so Iwaizumi could lay on top of him. Their school wasn’t as accepting as Karasuno was of people like them.

“Maybe we should, Hajime. But are you ready for that? I’ve been bullied for being pan since I was little, remember? But you only recently started seeing that kind of hatred.”

Iwaizumi hated that Oikawa was right. But he was quiet as he cried into Oikawa’s chest. He had never understood what other guys found so attractive about women, and it wasn’t until Oikawa helped him that he realized he was gay.

“Toru, maybe we should at least come out to Daichi, Suga, and the team. I think that would be the best choice for right now.”

“Mhm.”

The two boys had always been together, but telling everyone that they were dating now, was something that was terrifying to Iwaizumi.

“We’ll be okay, Hajime. Now that we know what we’re going to do, we should try to sleep. And Hajime? I love you.”

“I love you too, Toru.”

The two older boys fell into a comfortable sleep, and they were found like that the next morning, by Oikawa’s mother, Aina, who was more than happy to keep her discovery a secret, until they were ready to tell her.

The sweetest surprise that Aina found was the Hinata siblings, fast asleep on her couch, with _My Neighbor Totoro_ still playing on her television. The two were cuddled together, as if they were each other’s lifelines. She quietly set about making a nice breakfast for the four children that she found sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kay I'm thinking of opening a discord server or a tumblr blog for this long ass AU fanfic and I might draw a comic for this shit, but I gotta know what y'all think of that first


	15. A Strong Friendship is the Base of Any Relationship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daichi was quiet on the way home, which in itself wasn’t unusual. What made it unusual to Suga, was that it was a pained silence-as if Daichi was struggling to find the right words to express himself.
> 
> “Dai, he’s okay. But are you okay?”
> 
> A tired sigh, as Daichi rubbed his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyyyyyy another chapter done! Over 2000 words holy shit guys. *ahem* also, there is now a tumblr page dedicated to this fanfic. Simply go on tumblr, and search for " A Reason to Stay Haikyuu " and it should pop up! :DDDDD

Daichi was quiet on the way home, which in itself wasn’t unusual. What made it unusual to Suga, was that it was a pained silence-as if Daichi was struggling to find the right words to express himself.

“Dai, he’s okay. But are _you_ okay?”

A tired sigh, as Daichi rubbed his face.

“I-I should have done more, when Gramps left me that money, Koushi. If I had done more…maybe-maybe dad could have retired, before this happened…”

Suga immediately pulled over, and looked at Daichi, a serious look on his face.

“Daichi. You were fucking 16. You did so much more than most teenagers would have thought to do. You saved your parents from debt, bought them a house, _and_ you paid for all the bills for that house for _five years_. You saved my life, gave me a place to stay. And all of that was before we even got serious about our relationship. Your father made the choice to continue working there, all because he loves what he does. Your mom was able to start attending medical school, all because you paid for tuition. Your father would have still chosen to stay working there. We both know it. You gave your parents a second chance at life. So don’t you _dare_ blame yourself for something that was beyond anyone’s control.”

Daichi hadn’t expected an outburst from Suga like that, let alone a supportive and encouraging one.

“I…I-I don’t know what to say, Koushi, other than…thank you. You’ve been amazing this entire time, even thought I could barely get a single word out. But…seeing dad like that…it made me realize that the person that I’ve always seen as my hero, isn’t invincible. I was so scared, Koushi.”

Daichi hadn’t even realized he was crying, when Suga reached over to hold him. He was shaking violently, as his tears turned into full blown sobs. Suga gently caressed Daichi’s head, leaving gentle kisses all over the top of his head. By the time he thought to check the time, he realized that they were going to be late picking up the Hinata siblings.

 

 

“Nacchan, Chibi-chan! Want to go to an amusement park with Iwa-chan and I?”

Natsu immediately ran to Iwaizumi, eyes gleaming with excitement.

“Really?! Can we?? Pleeeease!!!!”

Iwaizumi couldn’t say no to Natsu, not when she looked at him like that. Of course, this had _not_ been the plan for today. He and Oikawa were supposed to have been going on a date to said amusement park, but the two realized that Daichi and Suga were going to be late picking up the siblings.

“Of coure, Nacchan! There’ll be lots of fun rides, and candies, and all kinds of tasty food!”

None of the three boys could suppress their laughter at the adorable face that Natsu was making at the mention of so many tasty foods. Shoyou was so proud of his sister, who was healing much faster than anyone had expected her to. She was back to a healthy weight, and the sheer amount of excersise she got, simply from being herself, was more than enough to allow her to have her randomized diet.

“Hey, Sho, there’s also a nice big barbecue going on right now. Betcha you can’t outeat me.”

Iwaizumi smirked as Shoyou’s competitiveness began to show itself once more.

“No way! I’ll beat you for sure, Iwaizumi-san!”

Oikawa looked at the two, who were now glaring at each other, daring the other to make another bet.

“Hey now, break it up! Let’s _all_ go to the barbecue, and whoever eats more than Iwa-chan, I’ll buy them whatever they want for the rest of the day!”

The words had left his mouth before he realized what exactly he was saying to three of the most competitive people he knew. The moment his mouth closed, he regretted saying anything to begin with.

“Even _me,_ Toru-nii?”

“Of course, Nacchan!”

Now, even Natsu was fired up, and ready to go.

“Now, all of you hold on just _one second_. None of you are going anywhere, looking like _that_.”

Aina gestured at the state of their clothes, as well as their hair. Even Oikawa, who took great pride in his so called ‘flawless’ hair, had a messy, bedhead style going on.

“But, moooom!”

Oikawa was about to complain, til Iwaizumi kicked him in the shins.

“ _OW!_ Iwa-chan, what the-“

Remembering the younger siblings, as well as his mother in the room, Oikawa reevaluated his response.

“heck?! What was that for?!”

“She has a point, Trashykawa. We all still look like we’ve just woken up.”

“Yeah, okay.”

To be fair, none of them had even changed out of their clothes from the day before. None of them had even bothered to wear pajamas to bed. Natsu was clinging to Shoyou, begging him to do her hair in ‘the bestest style _ever_ ’.

“Natsu, calm down, you have to get dressed first!”

“But Nii-chan, I didn’t bring anymore clothes!”

Aina could almost see the siblings’ hearts dropping.

“Well now, I guess that means I’ll have to pick up some clothes for the two of you! I’ll head out now, okay? Now, let’s see here…Nacchan, you’d like a dress, with shorts, I’m guessing? And Sho-chan, you’d like just a funny t-shirt and shorts?”

The two siblings nodded, and in moments, Aina was out the door.

“Well, now Iwa-chan and I have to pick out our clothes, okay? Chibi-chan, you and Nacchan should be able to use all of the hair styling things from the last time you spent the night, and you can watch another movie while you wait for us, okay?”

“Okay, Oikawa-san!”

 

 

“I’m sorry, Hajime. I know this was supposed to be a day for us. But Sugawara-chan texted me, and said that they may be a few hours late. So I thought it would be a good idea to just take them with us.”

“I literally do not give a fuck, Toru. I love those two kids. But…I think I’m ready to tell people about us. For real, this time.”

The two had been changing in Oikawa’s bedroom, but now Oikawa had frozen where he stood. He looked directly at Iwaizumi, and noticed that his entire face was flushed.

“Hajime…are you sure? It’s going to be hell for us for a while afterwards, you know.”

“I’m sure, Toru. Now will you please put on your goddamn pants already?”

The two were used to changing around each other, but Oikawa had his own suspicions.

“Why, Hajime, are you embarrassed that your boyfriend is changing in front of you?”

Oikawa’s question was met with a pillow being punted directly at his face. Iwaizumi did truly love him, but this was too much for him, even now. He often struggled with his feelings around Oikawa, and he didn’t want to do anything, especially with the Hinata siblings in the next room. But if Oikawa didn’t start behaving himself, he would have no mercy.

“Okay, okay, I’ll put my pants on, you big meanie.”

Oikawa pouted, but he knew he was pressing all the right buttons-just at one of the worst times possible.

“So, when do you want to tell everyone, Hajime? We should definitely plan ahead for this. Maybe some planning with Daichi and Suga would be good as well?”

“Y-yeah. I am kinda nervous, actually, Toru.”

Iwaizumi was absent mindedly chewing his nails, a nervous habit he had picked up years ago.

“Hajime, you’re biting your nails again. It’s okay. We’ll plan everything out together, okay? Now look at me. We’ve gotten this far, we can go farther now. And no matter what, we’ll always be together, remember?”

Their eyes locked, and Oikawa could see the tears beginning to form in Iwaizumi’s eyes once again. He took him into his arms, and hugged him lovingly.

“We’ll be alright, Hajime. Now let’s finish getting ready, okay?”

 

 

“Nii-chan, are you feeling okay?”

Natsu was worried about her brother, he seemed more tired than normal.

“I’m okay, Natsu! Really, I am. I’m just still sleepy is all!”

Shoyou was actually very concerned about Daichi and Suga, but he was really excited to go to an amusement park. But he still struggled, especially due to the fact that he had taken his medicine far later than normal the night before. He stifled a yawn, as he finished doing Natsu’s hair in one of her favorite styles.

“Chibi-chan, Nacchan, are you ready? Mom is almost home!”

Oikawa was shouting from his room, as he struggled with a button up shirt.

“Shittykawa, just wear the t-shirt, you’ll die of heatstroke!”

The Hinata siblings giggled as Iwaizumi shouted his concerns at Oikawa. The siblings had gotten used to the odd friendship between the captain/ace duo that often took care of them for date nights. Shoyou thanked god that he had managed to cover Natsu’s ears before Iwaizumi had yelled.

“Mean Iwa-chan! Nacchan can still hear you, you know!”

“Sorry, Shoyou!”

“It’s okay, Iwaizumi-san!”

As the three finished their brief yelling conversation, the Hinata siblings heard a car door close. Mrs. Oikawa was back, with a brand new outfit for each of the Hinata siblings! Natsu could no longer contain her excitement, and bolted towards the door, colliding with Mrs. Oikawa.

“Oh my, someone is excited to see her new outfit, aren’t you, Nacchan!”

She chuckled as Natsu hugged her, preventing her from walking into the house.

“Natsu, let her come in, silly!”

Shoyou grabbed Natsu gently off of Aina’s legs, releasing her, and allowing her to come back inside.

“My goodness, your hair is gorgeous, Natsu! Did Shoyou do that?”

“Uh-huh! He’s the _bestest_ at hair styles!!”

Shoyou simply shrugged when Aina looked at him quizzically. He had been doing Natsu’s hair for a rather long time at this point. Now that her hair was starting to get longer, Natsu realized that Shoyou could do more and more hairstyles with it. She was beyond thrilled when she first discovered this.

“Well, I certainly hope you both like your new outfits!”

 

 

 

 

Natsu grabbed the bag that Aina was holding out to her, and dashed to the bathroom, where she immediately grabbed the dress, and cradled it as she looked over it. It was a pale pink dress, with a smiling, orange sun on the front. She carefully pulled it on, and twirled in it. The skirt of it was ruffled, her favorite kind of dress. She slipped the white shorts on, underneath it, and marched out of the bathroom, to show Shoyou.

“Nii-chan, look at meeee! It’s so pretty!”

She twirled around three times for him to see, and as she finished the last one, Shoyou picked her up and spun her around himself.

“You look _great_ , Natsu!”

The siblings collapsed into a pile of giggles on the floor, as Oikawa and Iwaizumi at last made a reappearance.

“Are you two balls of sunshine ready for a funfilled day?”

Iwaizumi and Oikawa were both grinning at them, their minds already full of ideas for the day.

“ ** _Yes!!!_** ”

Shoyou and Natsu shouted in unison.

“Hey now, not so loud, kids! Have a good time!”

And with that, they were off.

 

 

 

 

Daichi and Suga had stopped to get coffee and some food after the crying session they had shared.

“Daichi, maybe we should just ask if Oikawa can watch the kids for a couple extra hours, so we can at least try to recover. What do you think?”

Daichi could barely register what Suga had asked him, he has exhausted himself thoroughly, with the crying and stress of his father’s accident, not to mention the fact that he had not slept since he had woken up at 5 am the previous day.

“Uh, yeah, I think that might be the best course of action. Shit, Koushi, I’m so tired. I really hope this coffee will help me wake up.”

Suga was watching Daichi worriedly, as he sent the text to Oikawa, and received a response within five minutes. Daichi was in desperate need of sleep, and, as much as he hated to admit it, so was he.

“Okay Dai, are you ready to go? Maybe you’ll be able to sleep on the way home.”

Daichi nodded tiredly at Suga, and that was the only response he would be getting. Suga sighed as he led Daichi to their car. He had certainly not expected their date night to end like this. After all, they were only ever able to go on a date every two weeks, if they were able to coordinate with Oikawa. He had been hoping for a nice, romantic evening, with the possibility of a passionate night. Suga shook his head. Now is not the time to be lamenting over what their night _should_ have been.

“Hey Koushi?”

“Yeah, Dai?”

“I’m sorry about our date getting ruined last night. But thank you for helping us. For helping _me_. I love you.”

Suga looked over at Daichi, surprised. He knew that Daichi always poured his heart out to him when he was exhausted, but he was not expecting this.

“I-I love you too, Daichi.”

Suga responded, as he started their car. Daichi at last slipped into a peaceful sleep, with a content smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am Daichi jfc I'm so tired but I'm almost to graduation I can do this lmao


	16. A good day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Look, Nii-chan! Cotton candy!!!”
> 
> Natsu was excitedly pointing out every food stand, her stomach growling louder with each one.
> 
> “Natsu, calm down! We’re going to the barbecue, remember?”
> 
> Shoyou was nervous about being around so many loud noises, but he was still so hungry. He trusted Oikawa and Iwaizumi to take care of him and Natsu.
> 
> “Chibi-chan, Nacchan! Look at the barbecue!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aliiiiiiiiiiive. Kind of. I'll be writing even more soon bc I'm graduating in two weeks :OOOO Your comments give me life lmao

“Look, Nii-chan! Cotton candy!!!”

Natsu was excitedly pointing out every food stand, her stomach growling louder with each one.

“Natsu, calm down! We’re going to the barbecue, remember?”

Shoyou was nervous about being around so many loud noises, but he was still so hungry. He trusted Oikawa and Iwaizumi to take care of him and Natsu.

“Chibi-chan, Nacchan! Look at the barbecue!”

All four of them looked at the large assortment of meat, vegetables, and even some fruit. The four stood in line patiently, as Oikawa paid for four endless plates. He thought he hid his irritation at the cost well, but Shoyou knew the look on his face quite well. He tried to suppress the horrible memories of root through the dumpsters.

“Yo, Shoyou, you okay?”

Iwaizumi had placed a gentle hand on Shoyou’s shoulder, reminding him that he was no longer in a situation where he was obligated to dumpster dive for every meal ever again.

“Y-yeah. It’s just…r-remembering all of the times that I had to go dumpster diving for food, back then. I saw Oikawa-san’s face after he paid, I guess the barbecue was expensive…”

“Shoyou, hey. Oikawa’s just pouting because he can’t buy some weird tv show about aliens, from the U.S.. He’ll still buy it eventually, so try not to worry too much, okay? Besides, his family has a shit load of money. He just only gets a small allowance, okay? So they’re not in a bad financial situation.”

Shoyou listened to Iwaizumi intently. The Oikawa family was rich? But they were very humble, Shoyou noted.

“Iwa-chan, Chibi-chan, come on, we’re hungry!”

Oikawa and Natsu were both waving at them from the barbecuing meat, their plates piled high with food. Iwaizumi patted Shoyou’s shoulder, and gestured to the line.

“As much as you want, Shoyou. It Toru pouts, don’t worry. He’s just being a drama queen.”

Shoyou did his best not to look surprised at the usage of Oikawa’s first name. Typically, neither of them referred to the other by their first names. Shoyou watched as Iwaizumi’s expression quickly changed from confident, to an extremely embarrassed one.

“Uh wait, shit. Um…can you just like, uh forget that, Shoyou? Please?”

“Iwaizumi-san, as long as you guys are okay, and happy, if you’re together, I don’t care anyway! Besides, you guys are perfect for each other, you know?”

Shoyou made sure to keep his voice low, but Iwaizumi could not stop the blush that was spreading over the rest of his face. He knew that Shoyou was very accepting of people like him and Oikawa, considering he lived with Daichi and Suga.

“I-uh-well….that wasn’t exactly how we were planning on telling you…just…promise not to say anything to anyone else, Shoyou? Please?”

“Of course! Only if you’re comfortable with it, will I say anything, I swear!”

The two boys shared a nod, an agreement to never speak of that moment again.

 

 

 

 

“Iwa-chan, what took you guys so long?”

Oikawa whispered to Iwaizumi as the Hinata siblings shared a joke.

“Shoyou was feeling kind of anxious about the cost of the food. And uh…I may have accidentally let your first name slip out of my mouth…and he figured it out in like…. .2 seconds.”

“Oh. It’s okay, Hajime. Everything will work out in the end, right?”

The couple shared a smile, before turning back to look at the Hinata siblings.

“Nii-chan, what’s wrong?”

Shoyou hadn’t even been able to eat one thing from his plate. He was violently shaking, and he appeared to have great difficulty with breathing.

“Shoyou! Hey, look at me bud! You’re okay, it’s safe here!”

“Nii-chan, you’re safe. It’s gonna be okay!”

Shoyou felt as if the world was closing in on him now, no matter what he was told. He could hear worried murmurs from around him, voices that he did recognize, mingled with the only three that he did recognize. But one in particular had caught him.

“ _Hey, look at the freak having some like aneurism or some bullshit!_ ”

He felt himself slipping further away, but then he heard Natsu yelling at the person.

“ **Hey! My big brother is having a panic attack because of what stupid, mean, people like you have done to him! And you know what?! He doesn’t deserve to be afraid like this, and all you’re doing is making it worse! You’re so mean! Do you have any idea how hard it is for him to be around this many people all at once?! You’re nothing but a sad little jerk, and you’ll never be anything else!** ”

By now, there was a crowd surrounding the small group, and Natsu was just screaming at anyone who dared insult her beloved Nii-chan.

“Nacchan, please, calm down.”

“NO! They’re big meanies to Nii-chan!”

Iwaizumi felt a harsh shove on his back, and he knew they had a big problem now.

“Uh, Toru, we gotta get out of here.”

Iwaizumi quickly pushed another boy off of his back, and walked closer to Shoyou.

“Hey, bud. Come on. It’s gonna be okay, just breathe with me.”

Shoyou focused on Iwaizumi’s words, and struggled to do as he said. Iwaizumi rubbed slow, soothing circles on his back.

“Will you all just back the fuck off?! He needs space, and you little shits aren’t helping!”

Oikawa was screaming at the small group of people around them. Perfect. Iwaizumi fought the urge to physically fight all of the people, but when Natsu was joined by Oikawa, everyone started to back off, their pride injured.

“There we go, bud. Just keep breathing. Come here, it’s gonna be okay.”

Shoyou leaned into Iwaizumi’s chest, his breathing shallow, but slowly getting steadier. Iwaizumi was the only thing keeping Shoyou upright at this point. Natsu ran back to her brother, as Oikawa made sure that the crowd continued to dissipate. Anyone who dared to stare at the smaller boy, was met with the most terrifying scowl they would ever see.

“Nii-chan, are you okay now?”

Shoyou nodded his head, but kept his eyes closed. His mind was spinning, but he could feel himself calming.

“Natsu, Shoyou is probably gonna need some rest. Why don’t we come back another day?”

“N-no, I can handle it, Iwaizumi-san. R-really.”

Oikawa and Iwaizumi looked at the boy skeptically.

“Shoyou, we’re gonna take it easy today, bud. How about we eat lunch, and maybe go see a movie? If you’re up to it. We can come back again later, okay?”

Iwaizumi held Shoyou gently, as he explained what was going to happen.

“Nii-chan, we can come later, with Suga-nii and Daichi-nii! Can we go see a movie instead? Pleeeease?”

Natsu was perfectly happy to convince her big brother to take it easy for the rest of the day, as they all realized that she would always be the one to snap him out of it.

“O-okay, guys. You win, I’ll take it easy. Let’s go watch a movie.”

Oikawa and Iwaizumi both sighed in relief, as they gathered their food, and walked to a much quieter spot.

“You good, Shoyou?”

“Mhm.”

Shoyou’s response was muffled by his food. But the two older boys were relieved to see that Shoyou’s appetite had at least partially returned.

“So, what movie would you guys like to watch?”

“Oh! Oh! Can we watch Whisper of The Heart?! Pleeeease!!”

The three boys internalized their groans, knowing it was one of Natsu’s favorite movies. They all exchanged a look, before they made their choice.

“Sure, Nacchan!”

 

 


	17. When Love is True

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga felt awful for leaving Shoyou and Natsu with Oikawa and Iwaizumi, and it showed. He couldn’t help the nervous fidgeting, even as he was driving. He sighed quietly, and glanced over at Daichi. He was out cold, just like Suga knew he would be on the way home. Because, despite his best efforts, Daichi can’t hide the amount of stress he’s always under from Suga.
> 
> “You know Dai; this would be a lot easier if you’d actually tell me what was wrong when you’re stressed out.”
> 
> He reached his hand out, to grasp Daichi’s. Daichi held on tightly, even in his sleep. Suga smiled softly at the small act of love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'ALL. I'M SO FUCKINF TIRED RN I WORKED A TEN HR SHIFT YESTERDAY AND THEN WENT TO TAKE A MAJOR TEST AT SCHOOL (I PASSED BTW) AND JFC I'M READY FOR SLEEP 
> 
>  
> 
> BUT ALSO HAPPY PRIDE Y'ALL. NEXT UPDATE WILL BE A 'MEET THE ARTIST' SEE YA THEN

 

 

Suga felt awful for leaving Shoyou and Natsu with Oikawa and Iwaizumi, and it showed. He couldn’t help the nervous fidgeting, even as he was driving. He sighed quietly, and glanced over at Daichi. He was out cold, just like Suga knew he would be on the way home. Because, despite his best efforts, Daichi can’t hide the amount of stress he’s always under from Suga.

“You know Dai; this would be a lot easier if you’d actually _tell_ me what was wrong when you’re stressed out.”

He reached his hand out, to grasp Daichi’s. Daichi held on tightly, even in his sleep. Suga smiled softly at the small act of love.

 

 

“ _Shut up Toru, the movie is starting. And I swear to god, if you make Natsu miss this, you’ll be missing a couple of things as well._ ”

Iwaizumi was nearly crushing Oikawa’s hand in frustration. Oikawa had missed the bucket of popcorn in Iwaizumi’s lap, and, needless to say, it didn’t go very well.

“ _I. Am. **Sorry.**_ ”

Oikawa really did mean it. Even if he did things that Iwaizumi didn’t approve of, he would never do those things around Natsu. And Iwaizumi knew it. He shook his head, and loosened his grip, now gently holding Oikawa’s hand in his.

Natsu was oblivious to the two older boys’ quiet fighting. Shoyou made the choice to just ignore it.

“Hey, Natsu, it’s starting!”

The Hinata siblings both stared at the screen, holding hands. Whenever they were in a dark place that wasn’t their home, they had to be touching in some way. Natsu squeezed Shoyou’s hand, as the movie began.

 

 

“Well, we’re home, Dai. Aaaaaaaaaaaaand you’re still super out of it. Dammit Daichi.”

Suga was groaning at having to lug Daichi into their home. He was significantly weaker when lifting objects-or in this case, people-than Daichi. Not to mention he had been neglecting his workout plan, in favor of studying and helping out at a local daycare after school.

“Eugh-this-would be a lot easier…if I wasn’t as tired as you are!”

Suga struggled to get Daichi into their bedroom, now that they were actually inside, it was a bit easier. Naturally, Daichi didn’t wake up until Suga, after fifteen minutes of struggling, had resigned himself to throwing Daichi onto the bed.

“…Love, why are you all out of breath?”

Suga whipped around to see Daichi propped up on his elbows, an annoyed look on his face.

“ **Because of my lameass noodle arms, Daichi! And you’re pure muscle so you look tiny, but you weigh a fucking ton!** ”

Daichi sat on their bed, speechless for a few minutes before finally bursting into laughter.

“Oh, fuck off, Daichi!”

He only laughed harder at Suga’s genuine exasperation with him.

“Love, you look adorable when you’re frustrated. You know I love it when you get angry.”

Daichi wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, as if he hadn’t just woken up from a longass nap. As tired as Suga was, he wasn’t one to say no to his boyfriend, not when he looked at him like that.

“Well….Oikawa _did_ say they were taking the kids to see a movie…..Shall we, dear?”

 

 

“Iwa-chan, that movie was sooo cute! I can’t believe we’d never seen it before!”

Iwaizumi looked at Oikawa, irritation evident. Natsu’s sudden gasp caught all three of the boys’ attention, as she pointed out a pair of sunglasses, shaped like hearts.

“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease?! Please can I get those!!!”

Within five minutes, Natsu had her sunglasses, and was now posing like a model for Oikawa.

“Y’know, Shoyou…Despite the shit that you guys have been through, she’s turning out to be an amazing young woman. I don’t doubt for a second that you taught her almost everything she knows. I’m proud of you, ya knucklehead.”

Iwaizumi gently ruffled Shoyou’s hair as he spoke.

“Th-thank you, Iwaizumi-san. I tried my hardest after….after mom….after mom died. It was never easy back then. Always a long day, even longer nights. But I think you’re right. She’s going to be okay.”

Shoyou ended with a yawn. His panic attack, before the movie had already left him exhausted and he was about ready to fall asleep standing up.

“Hey, Trashykawa, let’s get these two kids back home, yeah?”

“Okay, Iwa-chaaaaan! Come on, Nacchan, are you ready to go home?”

Natsu yawned widely, while nodding her head. It had been a very long day. By now, it was around 7:30 p.m. All four of them were tired out, and ready to call it a day, so Oikawa called Suga.

 

 

Daichi was laying on their bed, holding Suga close, when Suga’s phone began to ring.

“Love, it’s Oikawa, we had better get cleaned up, quickly.”

All that he got in response was a groan. Suga was entirely too exhausted now, but he lay curled on their bed, with a soft smile on his face.

“Hello, Oikawa. Yes, Suga’s asleep, he drove us all the way back, while I was apparently passed out on the way. An hour? Yes, we’ll be ready. Thank you.”

He hung up the phone and groaned into his hand. Suga was the one who had struck a friendship with Oikawa, not him. But, he did babysit fairly often, so he supposed he ought to at least try to talk with him civilly.

A knock on the door, along with muffled giggles.

“ _oh boy, what are they bringing home?_ ”

Daichi couldn’t help the small sense of foreboding, when he heard those giggles.


	18. Meet the Writer!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I introduce myself, and explain where tf I've been

 

I'm Alex, and I was gone bc a family member was hospitalized, and my family needed me there. I did draw ofc I needed some way to like...decompress. And yes, I have a bajillion ideas for where this fanfic is heading.

 

 

This was drawn in the hospital, after I was nearly crushed by hugs from my uncle and cousins. (It was my aunt in the hospital)

 

I also took a ton of drawing requests while I was gone, so if you aren't following the tumblr for this fanfic( A Reason to Stay Haikyuu )you missed out on some art but I'mma post it all here now. These are the Hinata siblings parents.

 

 

Mrs. Hinata, and baby Natsu. Oh, you also missed a fuck ton of little facts for the fic. And theories. And all that good shit.

 

 

KageHina was requested yesterday, so duh I delivered. Shoyou gets cold v easy. Kags is having none of it.

 

 

Before the rescue. Natsu had a long day and Shoyou was worried.

 

 

(NSFW) Suga was fucked all night long on his birthday. He stole Daichi's hoodie, and decided it was his now. Go on the tumblr and you'll see more nsfw shit lmao

 

 

Also got more fanart from @Sexyporkcutletbowl !!! bc I graduate tomorrow!!!!!

 

 

And just so y'all know, I fucken love this lmao


	19. Nightmares and Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daichi slowly opened the door and was greet by a flying Natsu.
> 
> “Oooof!”
> 
> He heard the unmistakable giggles of Shoyou and Oikawa.
> 
> “We got you, Dadchi!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK AT IT WITH CHAPTER LMAO HOPE YOU LIKE THIS IMMA PASS TF OUT

Daichi slowly opened the door and was greet by a flying Natsu.

“ _Oooof_!”

He heard the unmistakable giggles of Shoyou and Oikawa.

“We got you, Dadchi!”

As Daichi struggled to regain his balance he noticed that the siblings were most certainly not wearing the outfits that Suga had packed for them. Daichi also thanked god that Suga had not left any _visible_ hickeys anywhere.

“You guys sure did surprise me! Did you have fun with Oikawa and Iwaizumi?”

“We did, Daichi-nii!! I got a new dress, and I got sunglasses, and we watched a movie!!!”

“Ha ha! Glad you guys had fun! Oikawa, Iwaizumi, if you’d like, you can come on in.”

“Ah, sorry Sawamura-chan. We have our _own_ plans now. Don’t we, Iwa-chaaaan?”

“Shut the fuck up Shittykawa.”

Iwaizumi’s face was bright red as they walked back to the car that was waiting for them. Daichi shook his head, as closed the door behind him. Natsu and Shoyou were both on the small sofa, passed out and leaning against each other. Daichi’s heart melted, and he tried to lift the two up, as carefully as possible. Once he was successful, he carried them both to Shoyou’s room, where they snuggled together, smiles on their sleeping faces.

“Awww.”

He couldn’t help the whispered exclamation, as he quietly left the room.

 

 

 

“Daiiiii~”

“Yes, love?”

“Are the kids back safely?”

“Yes, and they’re sound asleep. Now _you_ go back to sleep, love.”

“But Daiiiii. I need to make you a lunch for tomorrowwww.”

“Koushi, lay back down. I don’t even work tomorrow, that’s how tired you are.”

Suga pouted as Daichi gently laid him back down on their bed. Daichi looked at him tenderly, remembering how long their journey had been together. From the day they first met to now. He smiled softly, as he laid down himself, and held Suga close. Their family was small, and damaged, yes. But they loved greatly. And he was happy with that.

 

 

 

**_”Hold still, Shoyou, goddammit!”_ **

_His father was tying his wrists to bed posts, as he kicked, and struggled to get away._

_“ **Damn, Hinata. You got one feisty brat today.** ”_

_Shoyou looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a middle-aged man, who was looking at him like he was a piece of meat. He screamed, but went unnoticed._

_“ **Now, Shoyou. I expect you to do exactly as you are told, or your punishment will be far, far worse.**”_

_He couldn’t stop the tears. He knew what was coming. He knew what those men were going to do to him._

“ **Nii-chan!!!** Wake up, it’s just a dream!”

“N-Natsu? You’re okay? You’re okay!”

“I’m here, Nii-chan. I’m not ever gonna leave you. I promise!”

Natsu held her brother tightly. Shoyou hadn’t even realized he had started crying. Natsu gently wiped his tears away, and kissed his cheeks.

“Nii-chan, you’re so brave and strong and you always protected me from dad…I want you to be happy, Nii-chan.”

Natsu felt a tear trickle down her own cheek, as Shoyou tenderly hugged her. He was still trembling from his nightmare, cool sweat dripping down his back.

“Hey, Natsu? Thank you.”

Natsu refused to fall asleep before her brother, and waited for him to begin to drift before even allowing herself to relax.

“I love you, Nii-chan.”

She whispered as she blissfully slipped away.

 

 

 

 

“Hey, Toru, shhh. It’s okay.”

“Hajimeeeee it’s not okay! My body is wrong, I’m wrong and and I can’t do anything about it! It…it hurts so bad, Hajime.”

Iwaizumi held Oikawa, as he cried into his shoulder, finally succumbing to severe dysphoria.

“Hey, look at me. You’re a man, and nothing will ever change that. You are _not_ less of a man because you were born different. We’re the same, you and me. Toru, I know it must be hard, but it’ll be okay someday. And I promise that I will be there for you.”

Iwaizumi held Oikawa’s face lightly, and brushed tears from his cheeks.

“You…you’re so amazingly strong, Toru. I’m proud of you for how hard you’ve been working towards all of this. You came out to everyone, even though it was scary. Even though so many people were against it. You still did it. And now look at you! You have straight girls clinging to you all the time, and you’re super popular. You did it.”

Oikawa leaned into Iwaizumi’s touch, still crying. He was beyond grateful for Iwaizumi always being there for him, even when he felt like he didn’t deserve it.

“Hajime, thank you. For everything you do.”

“I love you too, Toru.”

 

 

 

 

“Mmmmm, what time is it? It’s only 8!”

Suga was shocked at himself, he ordinarily woke up at six every morning. He looked over at his sleeping boyfriend, and drank in the bliss of a late morning. He was already thinking of what to make for breakfast. Daichi began to stir next to him, and looked up at Suga with a sleepy smile that made Suga’s heart warm.

“Morning, Dai.”

He gently kissed Daichi’s forehead as the two prepared to get out of bed.

“I was thinking pancakes for breakfast? Maybe some bacon, eggs, and fruit? Sound good?”

“Of course, love. We all love your cooking!”

Daichi gently ruffled Suga’s hair, a wide smile spreading across his face.

“I’ll go wake them up, hopefully they got enough sleep!”

 

 

“Natsuuuuu, come on, it’s time to wake uuuup.”

He couldn’t bring himself to wake up the siblings, who were curled up into the tiniest possible ball for two people of their respective sizes. He was trying to gently wake the two up, but it was certainly not working very well.

“Daiiii, breakfast is almost-“

Was all Suga got out before he dissolved into laughter. Daichi was carrying both of the siblings in a rather awkward bearhug, both of them still asleep.

“Oh my goooood, Daichi!”

“Koushiiiii please help me?”

 


	20. Family is not something you're born into.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sawamura Daichi, team captain of Karasuno Volleyball team, done in by hugs. I never would have guessed!”
> 
> “Koushi, just eat you dork.”
> 
> The sleepy Hinata siblings grinned at their guardians as they ate the delicious breakfast.
> 
> “Ah, I almost forgot! Daichi, we were going to tell them this morning!”
> 
> “Tell them…about what?”
> 
> Suga stared at Daichi, frustration evident. Then Daichi remembered.
> 
> “Oh!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. MUCH. FLUFF.

“Sawamura Daichi, team captain of Karasuno Volleyball team, done in by hugs. I never would have guessed!”

“Koushi, just eat you dork.”

The sleepy Hinata siblings grinned at their guardians as they ate the delicious breakfast.

“Ah, I almost forgot! Daichi, we were going to tell them this morning!”

“Tell them…about what?”

Suga stared at Daichi, frustration evident. Then Daichi remembered.

“Oh!”

“Yeah, so…how do we want to tell them, exactly?”

Suga stood and left the room, returning moments later with some papers in hand.

“Shoyou, can you read the first sentence of this paper out loud please?”

“Uh…Sure, Suga-san? ‘Report of adoption. Child: Hinata Shoyou. Adopting parents: Sugawara Koushi, Sawamura Daichi.’ Wait-“

“We decided to adopt both of you. That way, you won’t be taken away from us. What do you say, kids?”

The siblings shared a glance, before nodding their heads slowly. That was when they saw the tears coming. Shoyou and Natsu turned, and held each other closely. Suga and Daichi were struggling to hold back happy tears.

“Hey, why don’t we celebrate? Let’s go out to dinner tonight!”

Daichi always enjoyed celebrating, especially with the Hinata siblings. At the eager nods from both, he set to work inviting their friends out to a nice restaurant, explaining that the occasion will be announced over dinner.

 

 

 

“Ryuuuuuuuuuuuu!!! Daichi-san, Suga-san, and the Hinata siblings just invited us and a ton of other people to dinner tonight! We have to look our best for the fancy restaurant they chose!”

Tanaka watched as Noya zoomed around the room, looking for something suitable.

“Noya, you don’t think they’re finally announcing the adoption, do you?”

“I thought they were trying to keep it quiet though…Who cares?! Let’s get readyyyy!”

Tanaka groaned as he stood. The two had been having a movie marathon for the past two days, and he had not changed clothes once in that time. Saeko would _not_ be pleased.

 

 

 

“Tsukki, you know we’re going out to dinner with a lot of people tonight, right?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Yamaguchi stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend. He wanted them to wear the matching suits they had both bought on a whim several months ago.

“Okay, clothes are all picked out! Tsukkiiiiiii”

Yamaguchi was giving him a look that could only mean one thing.

“No. Absolutely _not_.”

“I’ll do it when you’re sleeping later if you don’t let me Tsukkiiiii.”

“You are _not putting any goddamned make up on me Tadashi_.”

“Aw come on! You said I could do your makeup for a special occasion! Remembeeeeer? You lost that bet a year ago!”

“ _Goddamnit I hoped you had forgotten that. FIIIIIIINE._ ”

Tsukkishima hated wearing makeup in public. But he really couldn’t say no when Tadashi looked at him that way. Although the giggles were making him second guess his choice.

 

 

 

“Yacchan, it looks like the entire team, as well as some of our rivals will be going out to dinner tonight to celebrate some special occasion. I wonder if…”

“Kiyoko-san, can you help me find something to wear, pretty pleeeeease?!”

Kiyoko giggled at the younger girl, who was already panicking at the sound of a large event.

“Of course, Yacchan!”

 

 

 

“Suga-nii, what about this one?”

“Hmmm. How about a different color, Natsu? Like this pretty blue one?”

“Nuh-uh, I want the red one!!! Red was my mommy’s favorite color, so I want her to be with me!”

Suga felt like he had been punched in the gut. Natsu very rarely spoke about either of her parents.

“Okay, we’ll get the red one, princess. Come on now, maybe we can get you a hairbow or something too! Your brother and Daichi are still looking.”

 

 

 

The last thing that Shoyou expected while being fitted for a tux, was to run into Kageyama.

“T-Tobio! What are you doing here?”

“Shoyou! I’m here to pick up my new suit! Funny running into you. What are you up to?”

He asked quizzically. Shoyou’s giggles only confused him further.

“You’ll see tonight at dinner! You did get an invitation, right?”

Kageyama arched a brow, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. There was a notification, titled ‘Dinner tonight!’.

“Well, I guess I’ll be wearing my suit to dinner, Shoyou! I’ll see you then, I have to go pick up some groceries, bye!”

Shoyou grinned as Kageyama sped away. It was going to be a good day, and an even better night. He couldn’t wait!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Family isn't something you're born into. It's something you choose.


	21. The Bright Future Ahead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama stopped in a small coffee shop on his way home, face red as he realized what the dinner celebration was for. Daichi and Suga were finally making their adoption of the siblings official.
> 
> “Sir?”
> 
> “Ah, sorry. I’ll take a mocha Frappuccino, extra whipped cream and chocolate please.”
> 
> The young barista handed him his drink, and off he went, and contemplated who to ask for help with his hair. His face contorted when he realized he only had a small handful of people to ask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp. after work kicking my ass for a week and a half, I cranked out 3000 words in two hours guys. And yes, you may notice that there are now only two chapters left in this fanfic......

Kageyama stopped in a small coffee shop on his way home, face red as he realized what the dinner celebration was for. Daichi and Suga were finally making their adoption of the siblings official.

“ _Sir?_ ”

“Ah, sorry. I’ll take a mocha Frappuccino, extra whipped cream and chocolate please.”

The young barista handed him his drink, and off he went, and contemplated who to ask for help with his hair. His face contorted when he realized he only had a small handful of people to ask.

 

 

“Okay, almost done, Tsukki!”

Tsukkishima groaned at his overenthusiastic boyfriend. He hadn’t even wanted to wear makeup for this event, but he knew that Yamaguchi would make his makeup look absolutely stunning.

“Okay Tsukki, look in the mirror!”

Yamaguchi handed him the small handheld mirror, and Tsukkishima looked in awe at the makeup Yamaguchi had so carefully applied. A soft golden eyeshadow, to compliment his eyes, winged eyeliner, a pale pink lipstick, and a very light touch of blush. He also took note of the fact that Yamaguchi had covered up every small blemish, as well as the large bags underneath his eyes. His face reddened as he realized how much he actually liked it.

“Do you like it Tsukki?”

“I…I actually do, Tadashi. Thank you.”

Yamaguchi clutched his heart tightly, just an hour earlier, Tsukkishima was saying how much he hated to wear makeup, but now he was thanking him for doing it.

 

 

 

 

“Yacchan, how do I look?”

Yachi gazed upon Kiyoko’s beauty, and felt her face growing warmer.

“You look amazing, Kiyoko-san!”

Kiyoko giggled at the younger girl, knowing that she would never lie to her.

“Alright then, let’s get started on _your_ hair! You wanted something like a braided bun, right?”

“Yes please, Kiyoko-san! But hurry, I don’t want to be late!”

“Of course, Yacchan!”

 

 

 

“Nii-chaaaaaan!!! Look at my new dress! Can you do my hair pretty pleeeeease???”

Shoyou looked at Natsu, twirling around in her new dress. He already had a hairstyle in mind for her.

“Of course, Natsu! But just so you know, you already look _gorgeous_.”

He winked at her, and she giggled at her silly brother. Daichi and Suga looked at the two siblings, their hearts swelling with pride. Daichi gently set his hand on Suga’s shoulder, and Suga leaned into the touch. They were finally happy. All of them.

 

 

 

 

“Ryu? Nii-san? Aren’t you _done_ yet?!”

“Oh, calm down, Yuu. It’s not your fault or my fault that Ryu hasn’t showered in two fucking days. Honestly! You’d think he would be faster though, wouldn’t you?”

Saeko was grumbling about being woken up in the middle of the day, on a weekend. Noya had asked her to help the pair of them get ready. He had already been ready for roughly 45 minutes when Tanaka finally started to get ready. Saeko had slicked Noya’s hair back, and made sure his suit was in order, and she thought he looked very handsome, if she did say so herself.

“Jesus, you guys are such a pain in the ass! Okay, I’m done showering what now, Nii-san?”

Tanaka immediately regretted asking when he saw the look on Saeko’s face.

 

 

 

“I do hope this is okay for the dinner tonight…”

Asahi murmured to himself as he looked in the mirror. He had called Noya and asked for advice on what to do with his hair, knowing that Noya loved to offer suggestions that had to do with his hair. He had suggested a typically more feminine hairstyle, but once Asahi had looked up pictures he had been thrilled with what he saw. He was also wearing a deep brown suit, with a tie Noya had given him for his birthday. It was a warm yellow, with soft brown stripes. He wondered if he was supposed to pick up Noya on his way to dinner. He would have told him if he was supposed to. Right????

 

 

 

 

“Tobio-chan, of all the people to ask for help with your hair, you’re asking _me_?”

Kageyama groaned quietly, but nodded his head.

“…I just want to look nice for Shoyou, Oikawa-san. I don’t want to…to seem out of place. I really care about him, and I want to make it as nice as I can.”

Oikawa looked at his junior in amazement, before opening his door to him.

“Well, when you put it like that, it’s not like I can refuse, Tobio-chan. Now then, let’s get started, we don’t have too much time you know.”

Iwaizumi was putting his suit coat on when he saw Oikawa ushering Kageyama to his room.

“What the fu-“

“Iwa-chan! Tobio-chan needed help with his hair, we’ll be ready soon, don’t worry!”

Iwaizumi was entirely confused at this point, but by now he knew to just roll with it.

“Uh….whatever you say Shittykawa. But you better hurry, or we might be late.”

 

 

 

 

“Alright, is everyone ready to go?”

Daichi called from the front door, and received a chorus of “Yes!” in response.

“Well, let’s go then! We need to get there first, according to the host that I spoke with. And by the way, you all look amazing.”

Daichi looked softly at his family, knowing they were about to become an official family. He couldn’t hide the proud smile that came to his face as he looked at them.

“Dai, let’s go! I’m excited to tell everyone about this!”

“Of course, love.”

 

 

 

 

“Reservation for 23, under Sawamura, please.”

The host’s jaw dropped when he realized how many people the reservation was for. Shoyou and Natsu were surprised, they hadn’t been expecting _that_ many people to be coming to dinner. Daichi chuckled, and explained a small portion of the reason to the host.

“The rest of our party will be arriving at different times, but don’t worry. We’ll try not to give you a hard time. We just want to have a nice dinner for our celebration.”

The host quickly composed himself, nodding.

“Right this way, please!”

Nastu was clinging to Shoyou, it had been a long time since they were in such a nice restaurant.

“Nii-chan, I’m really excited, but I’m also kinda scared…”

“Hey, look at me Natsu. We’re gonna eat a lot of yummy food, and we’re gonna be with all of our friends! Oikawa-san is even coming!”

Natsu’s eyes shone when Shoyou mentioned Oikawa, and she wasn’t so scared anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

“Noya, I swear to god, this had better be the right restaurant!”

Saeko yelled as she narrowly avoided an accident. Noya now had regrets about sitting in the front seat with her. Asahi was cowering in the backseat, while Tanaka attempted to calm his sister.

“Nii-san, can you, like… _not be freaking the fuck out right now_?”

Saeko was silent as she managed to part next to Daichi’s car. When she turned around she was making a face that would give children(and Asahi) nightmares.

“Ryu, don’t ever say that to me while I’m driving again. Do. You. Understand.”

He nodded his head furiously. They took a few minutes to calm themselves before heading into the restaurant. They were speaking with the host, as they noticed Natsu waving at them, a big grin on her face. Their group was seated, as Natsu began chattering away happily to all of them.

 

 

 

 

“Tadashi, I’m not sure about this…”

“Aw, come on Tsukki! You’re a walking piece of salt most of the time, just use that to your advantage like you always do!”

Tsukkishima was not overly confident that he wouldn’t be bothered by people because of his makeup. He took a deep breath as he parked their car.

“Tadashi, I’m….honestly a little scared. What if someone tries to jump me because of this?”

Yamaguchi looked at his boyfriend in surprise. He hadn’t realized what the reason had been for Tsukkishima hating makeup so much.

“Hey, it’ll be okay, Kei. Besides, after dinner, I’m pretty sure we’re just going home. And if you start feeling scared while we’re eating, we’ll just leave, okay? I promise I’ll never make you let me put makeup on you again. I’m sorry.”

Tsukkishima looked over at him. He grasped his hand gently.

“I’m doing this for you, but also, I do feel kinda pretty with this makeup on, Tadashi. Let’s go.”

The two knew how to support each other in many ways, and it always showed. As they walked into the restaurant, hand-in-hand. Tsukkishima was instantly of intense interest to Natsu. She loved his makeup, and he thought, maybe, just maybe, anything would be worth seeing the small girl so happy. He allowed himself to smile genuinely for her, and that was how Yamaguchi knew for sure that he had made the right choice.

 

 

 

 

 

Kiyoko and Yachi walked into the restaurant, with Yachi clinging to Kiyoko’s arm. The second Natsu saw them, she launched herself into Yachi’s arms. They were good buddies, even though the hug had been extremely startling for Yachi, she still held Natsu tightly as the three walked back to the table.

“Glad you both could make it, Shimizu. Although, I think that Yachi might need some help with Natsu.”

Suga chuckled. The group at the table was continually growing, leaving many of the servers confused, as the group seemed to multiply every time they walked by.

“I’m so happy for you, Koushi.”

Kiyoko whispered to Suga, as she sat down. Although they didn’t often see each other since the hospital accident, Suga and Kiyoko were as close as siblings. She had known about the adoption ever since Suga had started fighting for it. Both of them had lost many nights of sleep to this, but they both deemed it to be worth it.

“Thank you, Shimizu.”

The two watched as Yachi talked animatedly with the siblings, and accidently smacked herself in the face. After assuring the table that she was okay, everyone burst into laughter.

 

 

 

 

“Are you sure you’re ready for this, Bokuto-san?”

“I’m sure, Akaashi. I’m really excited for them, honestly. I wish we could have come sooner though.”

“Me too, but we’re here now. And that’s what matters.”

Akaashi whispered as he slipped his hand into Bokuto’s. They had been planning to come visit the siblings for a very long time, but had been unable to, due to a variety of different issues. As they were speaking with the host, they heard the sounds of a videogame from behind them.

“What the-“

“ ** _KUROOOOO!!!!_** ”

“Oh dear god please no.”

 

 

 

 

“BRO! Hey hey hey! We got here at the same time?!”

Kenma and Akaashi greeted each other with a civil handshake as their loud boyfriends exchanged manly hugs.

“Well, it’s good to see you Kenma. How have things been?”

“About the same, but I managed to get him to let me bring my game, as long as I put it away while we’re all eating. You?”

Akaashi pointed to his left hand. Kenma’s eyes went wide, as he noticed the thin band around Akaashi’s ring finger. Akaashi put a finger to his mouth and grinned. The four were all taken to the table at once, and instantly felt at home with all of their friends.

 

 

 

 

“Now boys, I’m only going to be able to stay for a little while, since I have a date soon, understand?”

“Yes, mom.”

Oikawa, Iwaizumi, and Kageyama had all ridden with Mrs. Oikawa, who had wanted to spend more time with the group, but had accidently double booked herself for different things. Kageyama was twiddling his thumbs as they all walked into the restaurant. He was nervous, but he knew that Oikawa had made him look good.

“Tobio-chan, what’s wrong? Feeling nervous?”

He nodded his head.

“Hey, Kageyama, you don’t have to worry, there’s gonna be a lot of people there. So it’s not like it’s gonna be like an awkward first date.”

Kageyama prayed to god that Iwaizumi was right. He was a little less nervous now, but the feeling was still there. But he felt it dissolve entirely as soon as he saw Shoyou smiling at him. For the first time in a long time, that wonderful smile wasn’t haunted by pain, or nightmares, or bad memories. Shoyou was genuinely happy, and now, so was Kageyama.

 

 

 

 

“Now dear, be careful. You don’t want to ruin their night by accidently making your injury worse.”

Hana chuckled at her husband’s eagerness to meet their two new grandchildren. Naturally, Daichi had told them that he and Suga had been planning on adopting the Hinata siblings.  The older couple was happy to see their son doing so well, knowing how much he, as well as many of his friends had gone through. Instead of having to wait to be seated, Daichi had called out to them. It was going to be a wonderful night, and they all knew it.

 

 

 

 

The last person to arrive was Ennoshita, having been in a minor accident on the way to the dinner.

“Sorry I’m late, everyone! I was in a bit of a fender bender, but I made it!”

Tanaka rolled his eyes at him. The two had been getting closer lately, and were thinking of going on their first date sometime. But that wasn’t what they were at the restaurant for.

 

 

 

Daichi stood, and tapped his glass gently with a knife.

“Can I have everyone’s attention, please?”

The large group all looked toward Daichi, and noted that Suga was standing by his side now.

“By now, I’m sure that some of you have figured out why we invited all of you out to dinner tonight. But for those of you who don’t know yet, we decided to officially adopt both Shoyou and Natsu. Although the adoption process has yet to be finalized, we decided that today was cause for celebration. As you all know, this past year has been trying for the Hinata siblings. But we’re very proud to announce that both of them have improved beyond words since that day back then. And so, I propose a toast, to Shoyou and Natsu. The two of you beat the odds and survived. Tonight, we celebrate not only our adoption of you two, but we also celebrate _you_. To Shoyou and Natsu!”

“To Shoyou and Natsu!”

The entire table toasted to the siblings, as they sat there giggling. Everyone was at ease with each other. It was a calm contrast to their lives earlier in the year. Suga looked at the siblings as they happily talked with everyone, as he remembered how hard it had been for them to talk to the very same people what seemed like such a short time ago.

“Now then, I have one more thing to announce, everyone. Koushi, now that we’re adopting two children, will you do me the honor of marrying me?”

The entire table was silent as Suga took the small, seemingly handmade ring from Daichi’s hand.

“O-of course, I’ll marry you, Daichi!”

A single happy tear fell down Suga’s cheek as the entire restaurant erupted with applause and cheers. Natsu And Shoyou were on their feet in moments, running towards their new parents. Many joyful tears were shed that night, but none of them were as happy as the Hinata siblings.

 

 

 

 

As the table began to order dessert, Natsu began to get very sleepy, and was barely able to keep her eyes open to enjoy the delicious strawberry cheesecake that her and Shoyou had both ordered. The group was quietly chattering as the excitement from earlier had died down, and they spoke in gentle, but happy tones to each other.

“Congratulations, son. We’re very proud of the both of you. Getting married, and adopting two children is a lot of responsibility on the two of you now, but we know you can handle it.”

“Thanks, dad. It hasn’t always been easy, but we’ve been able to get through everything that the world has thrown at us so far. I think we can handle anything else the future holds. Don’t you, Koushi?”

“Mmm. Of course, Dai. I think we should actually start wrapping up soon though. Look at Natsu, she’s practically asleep on Shoyou already!”

Hana chuckled at Suga.

“Well, you’ll definitely be a good mother, Koushi. After all, you already are.”

Although many people didn’t understand why Suga was called a mother so often, he actually quite enjoyed being referred to as one. He smiled softly at her, remembering how she had been the best example of a good mother to him.

“Well, Oka-chan, you have always been an excellent teacher.”

Hana’s eyes widened, as a tear fell down her cheek. She wrapped her arms around him, knowing how often he had yearned for a mother’s tender hug when he was younger.

“I wish I could’ve met you much sooner, Koushi. But I wouldn’t change what we have for the world. I think that we should be heading out now though. Here.”

She shoved a crumpled ten thousand yen bill into his hands.

“Wh-“

“It’s something I’ve been saving for you two. I know that dinner is going to cost a lot, and I wanted to help out, at least a little. Just take it, son.”

She kissed his cheek, and went to say goodbye to Daichi. He looked at the bill in his hands, knowing that Daichi would have never allowed this to happen. He held it tightly. He would save it for when they really needed the money. Just as his soon to be mother in law had.

“Come on, Natsu, time to go home.”

“Mmmkay mom…”

Suga’s heart swelled, as the words came out of Natsu’s sleepy mouth. He lifted her up gently, as Daichi finished paying the bill for their group. The night had been a complete success. And, because they were all too young to drink any alcohol, there were no drunk antics, Daichi thanked his luck stars for that. Thankfully, all of the actual adults only ever drank at home, as well. He sighed happily, as he picked up one of the many bags of leftovers. Shoyou picked one up as well, and was surprised when Kageyama came up behind him, and offered his help.

“Tobio! I thought you went home already.”

“Well, there was something I wanted to do first, Shoyou. Slap me if you want me to stop, okay?”

Shoyou looked up at him in confusion. But then Kageyama leaned down, and kissed his cheek. He felt his face growing warm, but he smiled happily at Kageyama.

“I know things like this can be hard, but I really care about you, Shoyou. And I was hoping that maybe someday we can go on a date? I don’t mean anytime soon, and I certainly don’t mean before you’re ready!! And-“

“Shh, Tobio.”

Shoyou had put his finger against Kageyama’s lips, before meeting them with his own. Kageyama melted into the kiss, knowing that it would be a short one. Shoyou pulled away, his face flushed just like Kageyama’s.

“I would love to go on a date with you sometime in the future, Tobio, if you would be willing to wait for me to be ready for it?”

“I’ll wait forever if I have to, Shoyou. Until you’re ready, we’ll just be best friends. Okay?”

Shoyou hugged him tightly. Kageyama held him even tighter, knowing that being Shoyou’s friend was what was important right now. He would wait for as long as it took. And even if they wound up not being together, he would never leave Shoyou. He cared for him too deeply to do that.

Daichi had just come back in from putting the bag he had been holding in the car, along with buckling Natsu in. He was met with the heart warming scene of the ‘freak duo’ in a genuine, caring hug. Maybe things were about to get even better for their family after all. He caught himself. Thinking like that would only disappoint him whenever a problem arose, and he knew it.

“Come on, Shoyou. It’s pretty late, and Natsu is already asleep. Kageyama, do you need a ride home? It’s no trouble to us.”

“Um…Yes please, Daichi-san.”

It had been a long day for everyone, but as they all arrived to their warm beds, they were very proud of the new family they were being able to watch grow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's cuz I'm getting ready to start writing a Gravity Falls fanfic pretty soon. The final chapter of ARTS will be a time jump tho


	22. Forgotten Memories, and a Happy Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsu was looking out at her and Suga’s garden, a content smile on her face as she reflected on her short life. When she and Shoyou had first started going to therapy she hadn’t known how many memories she had buried out of fear. Although she still struggled with her memories, she was happy to be making new, happier memories. She never spoke about her memory problems with anyone other than her therapist, at least for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, after this, there is only ONE chapter left, okay? It took me awhile to write this chapter, but I did get a new job finally! :DDDD

Natsu was looking out at her and Suga’s garden, a content smile on her face as she reflected on her short life. When she and Shoyou had first started going to therapy she hadn’t known how many memories she had buried out of fear. Although she still struggled with her memories, she was happy to be making new, happier memories. She never spoke about her memory problems with anyone other than her therapist, at least for now. Her family knew the most important things about her memories, and that was what mattered to her. She sighed as she watched a bird take flight. Her birthday was coming up soon. She remembered that much for sure. She would be turning eight this year. Suddenly her thoughts took a deeper plunge, as she thought to her previous two birthdays.

 

 

_“Nacchan, come here, my dear! You have so many presents to open!”_

_It was Natsu’s sixth birthday, and her family had worked hard to make it a good one. She came running into her mother’s arms. Aki scooped her daughter up, and held her close._

_“Happy birthday, my beautiful girl.”_

_She whispered in the happy girl’s ear. Natsu looked at the table full of delicious food, but her eyes fell upon the birthday cake. It was a normal sponge cake, but with far more whipped cream than normal. Many different berries adorned the cake, which had been made to look like any six-year old’s dream cake. Natsu felt her mouth watering at the sight of the sweet treat her mother had spent the entire day making._

_“Natsuuuu! I’m home!”_

_Aki turned and set Natsu back on the floor, and she went running towards her big brother. She nearly knocked him over with the amount of force she exerted to hug him. She took his calloused hands in her own small one._

_“Nii-chan….you’ve been playing too hard again!”_

_Shoyou shrugged at his sister’s worry, knowing that if it were any other day he would be getting an earful not only from Natsu, but from their mother as well._

_“Shoyou, I thought you were going to skip practicing tonight and come **straight home** for Nacchan’s birthday.”_

_Shoyou felt a chill go down his spine as he remembered the promise he had made to their mother the previous evening. He had entirely forgotten about._

_“Mom, I’m really, really sorry! I totally forgot! I’ll make up for it somehow, I promise!”_

_She sighed and nodded her approval. Natsu grinned at the argument, she was just happy the whole family was there. She was too young to remember their father._

A soft smile accompanied her memories. Until she remembered the previous year. She shuddered as she remembered it.

 

 

 

 

_“Natsu, I’ll be right back okay? Dad will watch you while I’m gone!”_

_She nodded her head eagerly. She still missed their mother, but she was full of hope for her birthday. She_

_knew that her mother always loved to celebrate her birthday, so she was gonna have a good one this year, she and Shoyou had promised her, after all!”_

_“ **There you are Natsu. What the fuck are you doing in the living room?!** ”_

_“Hi Daddy! I’m waiting for nii-chan to come back! I think he’s looking for something for my birthday!”_

_Natsu didn’t understand why her daddy was making an angry face at her. Had she said something wrong?_

_“ **Listen here, bitch. We don’t celebrate birthdays here anymore. Got it?!** ”_

_“B-But daddy!”_

_His face contorted with rage, he threw his fist at his daughter, just in time for Shoyou to see it. Natsu was knocked to the floor, her lip and nose bleeding._

_“ **You wanted a birthday present, right?! Well there it fucking is!** ”_

_Natsu could feel the hot tears building up in her eyes, as Shoyou quickly put himself between the two._

_“Look, dad, just leave Natsu alone! She didn’t do anything to you!”_

_He rolled his eyes at his son, and left the room, searching for more alcohol._

_“Natsu, I won’t ever let him hurt you again. I promise. Come on, let’s go to my room, and we’ll celebrate there, okay?”_

_Shoyou tried his best to comfort his sobbing sister, once they were back in his room. But Natsu couldn’t stop crying. She missed their mother. She was scared of their father, and now her birthday had been ruined. Shoyou held her close and whispered gently._

_“I have a present for you. I know I should’ve given it to you earlier today, but I wanted to save it and make it special.”_

_He held out an almost new teddy bear. She could see hand stitching on it, just like their mother’s. She took the bear, and held it close as she cried against her brother’s chest._

 

She shook her head, as Suga called out to her.

“Natsu, come on! We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry!”

She cleared her mind, as she remembered what they had been planning on. Her and Suga were going to go visit Oikawa and Iwaizumi before dinner, so they could make her look absolutely beautiful. She had originally wanted Shoyou to do her hair, but she remembered he had recently sprained his wrist and practice, despite Daichi’s numerous warnings that something like that was bound to happen if he didn’t slow down.

“I’m coming, mom!”

She smiled happily, knowing that Suga was an amazing mom. She couldn’t wait to go see her uncle Kawa and uncle Iwa.

“What are you thinking about, Princess?”

“Mmm. Birthdays from before, mom. I’m really happy today.”

Suga looked at the young girl, and felt his heart ache, knowing how quickly she had aged mentally in the past year. He took a deep breath, and took her hand. He was going to make this birthday amazing, no matter what.

 

 

 

 

“But Tobioooooo! I wanna play too!”

Shoyou was nearly in tears. He couldn’t play volleyball, and the doctor had explicitly told him no videogames until his sprained wrist had healed more. Kageyama sighed. As much as he loved Shoyou, he really could be a whiner sometimes.

“Okay, okay. How about…a card game?”

Shoyou’s eyes shone, and Kageyama knew he had an answer. He went to his closet to browse his old card games.

“Hey, how about this one?”

He was holding an American game, and Shoyou nodded his head vigorously.

“I used to play that with Natsu and our mom!”

Kageyama knew better than to ask any questions about his mother, and just smiled softly. The two began their game, with Kageyama always being watchful over Shoyou.

 

 

 

 

“Nacchan, we are going to make you look _fabulous_! Now tell me, how do you want your hair styled? Up, or down?”

Oikawa looked at the young girl that he had adopted as his own sister. She looked in awe at the book of hairstyles that he had given her to look through.

“How about this one, Uncle Kawa?”

“Oh, that’s an excellent choice, Nacchan! Now that we know what hairstyle you want, let’s choose what colors you would like for makeup! After all, Sugawara-chan helped you choose your dress already, didn’t he?”

“Yep! I’m so excited, Uncle Kawa! Do you think Nii-chan will be surprised?”

“Oh, definitely! He’s going to think you are _the_ most beautiful princess there ever was!”

Her eyes shone with excitement, as Suga braced himself for the amount of makeup he was about to see.

“Well, Suga. Good to see you again, man. How’re things at home nowadays?”

“Oh, Iwa. Things have been going pretty well! The kids are settling in, and have taken to just calling Dai and I, mom and dad. Which we both love! But Shoyou has been restless ever since he sprained his wrist, the poor thing. We _did_ warn him though. We told him he was practicing too much lately.”

Suga sighed as he relayed the story for Iwaizumi.

“Damn, Suga. Well, it sounds a lot like when Toru first injured his knee. He overworked himself so much, he was so sure that his worth depended upon his ability to play, that he risked that much injury to himself. In other words; I’ve seen it before, and it’s not pretty. But y’know, I think Shoyou’s gonna be just fine. After all, he has all of you guys to look out for him now.”

Suga realized exactly what Iwaizumi was saying to him. At this time last year, Shoyou had been trapped in an abusive household, with no hope of escaping. Today, he has an entire support system, who will make sure that he heals properly, and can get back on the court as soon as possible. Suga hadn’t realized just how much had changed for the Hinata siblings in one short year. He smiled softly as he and Iwaizumi watched Natsu and Oikawa looking through several different palettes of makeup. Iwaizumi rested his hand on Suga’s shoulder. They had all worked hard to get to where they were today. But now it was time to celebrate Natsu.

 

 

 

 

“Alright, come on Shoyou. It’s time to ice your wrist now.”

“But Tobiooooo, I don’t wanna!”

“You wanna get back on the court, don’t you, dumbass?”

Shoyou huffed as he nodded his head and accepted Kageyama’s help. Kageyama had been with him when they had gone to the doctor, and had heard every bit of advice the doctor had given him.

“Hey Tobio?”

“Yeah?”

“We both need to get Natsu a present still don’t we?”

“…….”

“ _Oh my god we have to get her a present right now!!!!_ ”

The two looked at each other, and Kageyama begrudgingly rewrapped Shoyou’s wrist. They were in casual clothes, and had planned on stopping by Shoyou’s home to get changed into something more formal, before meeting the rest of the family at a nice restaurant.

“We’d better hurry, huh, Tobio?”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

They grinned at each other. They might be dumbasses, but at least they were dumbasses together.  Shoyou slipped his small hand into Kageyama’s, and they both smiled softly as they walked to a small shopping center nearby Kageyama’s home.

 

“Hey, do you think she’d like this one?”

Kageyama glanced over his shoulder to see Shoyou holding a stuffed bear that was nearly the same size as him. Kageyama turned away from the sodas he was purchasing in order to make sure that he was seeing correctly. He froze, struggling to contain the laughter, before bursting out laughing hard.

“ _Shut up Bakageyama!_ She’ll _love_ it, just you wait!”

Shoyou all but shouted at Kageyama, as the cashier watched the entire exchange, an amused smile on his face.

 

 

 

 

Natsu was standing in front of a full view mirror, making sure that she looked exactly the way she wanted to. Her hair had been straightened, with her bangs braided to the sides of her head, similar to how her mother had worn her own hair. She had a soft yellow dress that just barely reached her ankles on. Iwaizumi had given her a pendant, with a tiny emerald in its center. Oikawa had done a beautiful job on her makeup, a look that she knew her mother had worn for her wedding. Soft red eyeshadow, tiny wings of eyeliner, and a gentle pink lip-gloss.

“Well, what do you think, Nacchan?”

Natsu turned to face Oikawa, grinning.

“I _love_ it, Uncle Kawa!”

Oikawa smiled back at her, knowing full well that he had just made one of her greatest dreams come true. He couldn’t believe how long it had been. All of the third years were preparing for graduation, but for today, they were focusing on Natsu. But it was rather difficult with all of the boxes around his home, in preparation for college.

“Well, we have a little bit of time left before we head out to dinner, Nacchan. What would you like to do until then?”

Oikawa regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Natsu had a gleam in her eye as she began to look for something.

“Nacchan….what exactly is it that you’re wanting to do?”

“Help you guys get ready!!”

The three boys collectively forced smiles as Natsu helped them fix their ties and such. They were all surprised at how gentle she was, while still being incredibly helpful.

“Nacchan, how did you get to be so good at helping other people like this?”

Natsu froze for a moment.

“…b-because Nii-chan needed help sometimes…”

Oikawa froze as he realized what he had done. Suga stepped into the conversation to avoid a disastrous result.

“And that’s so amazing, Natsu! You helped him so much, and we’re all really proud of you for always helping your big brother!”

Natsu shook her head, as if clearing the memories of her injured brother. She looked up at Suga, tears in her eyes. She couldn’t just push it to the back of her mind until later this time. Suga recognized the signs and knew exactly what was coming.

“Shh, it’s okay Natsu. Come here.”

Suga opened his arms, and Natsu crawled into them, allowing herself to sob against his shoulder. Oikawa and Iwaizumi watched helplessly, as their favorite princess succumbed to her ptsd.

“…I-I should have done more, mom.”

“What? Natsu, don’t say that! You did everything you could to help him. You did more than anyone else could back then. Hey, look at me. I know it’s hard. I know it’s scary, but you’ll get through it. You and Shoyou are both safe now, remember? You live with Daichi and I now. And we won’t let _anything_ happen to you ever again. I promise.”

 

 

 

 

“Okay, so she’s doing good? Still wants to go to dinner tonight? Okay, we’ll see you guys there. Thanks Iwaizumi.”

Daichi sighed, pinching his nose. He told Suga to be especially careful today. He had told Iwaizumi and Oikawa as well. But he couldn’t change what had already happened. He grabbed his keys and headed out the door, only to nearly collide with Kageyama and Shoyou, giant stuffed animal in tow.

“ _What the **fuck** , you two?!_”

“Sorry, dad! We’re a bit late, but we gotta get changed! Can you drive us too?”

Daichi wordlessly nodded his head. Yes, he would drive two of the most hyper people in the world at the same time. He groaned internally at the long drive ahead. The two bolted inside to change, and were back out in a matter of minutes. He didn’t bother asking if they had made sure they were wearing the right suits, he just hoped to god they were.

“Okay, off we go!”

 

 

 

 

Once they arrived, Natsu was placed in the seat of honor, and her favorite drink was in her hands in a matter of moments. Suga sighed with relief when the rest of the party showed up, and welcomed the happy release the siblings were going to enjoy that night. He noted that Kageyama and Shoyou were in matching suits, aside from their ties. Kageyama wore and orange one, while Shoyou wore a blue one. Suga smiled, knowing how happy the siblings had become. Although he knew that they would both still have to fight their own demons, likely for the rest of their lives, he was glad that they knew they didn’t have to face them on their own.

“Mom, look at all the stuff we can eat!”

Natsu was calling out to him, and he sighed happily.

“Wow, look at all of the choices! Buuut, what is the birthday girl going to eat tonight? You can eat whatever you want!”

Natsu’s eyes shone, as she started pointing at things, and asking if they were okay. Naturally, neither Suga nor Daichi could say no to her smiling face.

“Natsu, you’re gonna eat so much you’ll puff up like a balloon!”

“Nii-chan!! Then what about _you_? You eat even more than me!”

Shoyou feigned being offended by her question.

“I’m kidding, Nii-chan!”

Natsu dissolved into giggles, as the waiter came by to take the orders. Suga placed the orders himself, knowing the amount of chaos their orders were going to cause.

“…and then, for the birthday girl, Hibachi steak and shrimp, a side of white noodles, and an order of dragon juice. We’ll also be ordering dessert once we finish the dinner. Thank you!”

The group had all watched intently as Suga relayed everyone’s order correctly, and even thanked the poor waiter for his hard work.

“That was impressive, love. Now sit down, and enjoy the evening like the rest of us!”

Suga grinned, they all knew that this night was important, and was certainly going to be looked back on fondly.

 

“Otanjyoubi omedoto  
otanjyoubi omedeto  
otanjyoubi omedeto Natsu-chan  
tanjyoubi omedeto!

Otanjyoubi omedoto  
otanjyoubi omedeto  
otanjyoubi omedeto Natsu-chan  
tanjyoubi omedeto!”

 

Natsu grinned as the traditional birthday song rang out through the restaurant. She was eight years old now, and couldn’t wait for her next birthday.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes I know there's some weird shit going on in the drawing I used a different app stfu


	23. A Perfect Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not gonna lie, tears were shed when I was writing this one guys. This is the end of A Reason To Stay. I've been writing this story for almost three months, and have dedicated a much of my precious free time to work on this project.

“Hey, Tobio? What do you want to do for dinner tonight?”

Kageyama looked up from his book, into his husband’s curious eyes. It was one of their few quiet nights nowadays.

“How about some pork buns, Shoyou? After all, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

Shoyou grinned, they both loved pork buns, although they still got regular lectures if they didn’t eat fruits and veggies as well.

“Pork buns sound amazing, _darling_.”

Kageyama felt his face grow hot with Shoyou’s words. Neither of them had quite gotten used to being called a pet name by the other. Shoyou grinned at his accomplishment, but his joy was short lived as Kageyama grabbed him from behind, picking him up.

“Tobioooo!!! Why do you always do that!”

Shoyou laughed as Kageyama spun them around once or twice. He was feeling excited today.

“Hey…are you feeling up to doing it tonight?”

Kageyama knew Shoyou far too well, and often refused any type of sexual activity with his husband if he thought he might be uncomfortable, or if he may have flashbacks. He looked into Shoyou’s eyes, and he recognized the soft smile on his face, as he leaned in to kiss him.

“I think so, _darling_.”

“Okay, now that is not fair.”

Shoyou giggled as the two walked into their bedroom. It had taken him a long time, but now their marriage was much happier and healthier. They held hands as they walked over to the bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Mooooom! Have you seen my jersey anywhere?”

“Seiko, honey. I put it on your bed this morning.”

Suga pinched his nose as he explained that he had just washed it the night before. It had been three years since Seiko had come out as nonbinary. They had legally changed their name from Natsu to Seiko, with help from their family.

“But mooom it’s not here _now_!”

“Then what is _that_ , my dear?”

Suga pointed at the clearly spread out jersey on their bed. Seiko was speechless as they reached over to pick it up.

“Wh-“

“It’s a mother’s trick, Seiko.”

Suga winked, as he headed back downstairs to make their dinner. Daichi would be home soon, and Suga intended on making a nice dinner tonight. It was the last day of rest Seiko was being forced to experience. Suga rolled his eyes as he thought back to the day that he had received that phonecall from the school.

 

 

 

_He had been in the midst of making some steamed buns for after Seiko’s practice that night. He was startled by the sound of their house phone ringing._

_“Hello?”_

_“Mr. Sawamura? This is the nurse from Karasuno.”_

_His heart sank. He had hoped to never receive another phone call about his children getting hurt. He cleared his throat._

_“Seiko has been injured and is on their way to the hospital right now. They have requested that you meet them at the hospital. We don’t have an official diagnosis, but my best guess is a torn rotator cuff.”_

_“….I…I understand. Thank you, nurse. I’m on my way now.”_

_He dropped everything he was doing, looked like buns weren’t going to be ready in time for dinner. He could feel the hot tears coming as he rushed to grab a small bag with some of Seiko’s belongings in it. As he ran out the door, he dialed Daichi’s work number._

_“Hello, love! How are thi-…w-why are you crying?”_

_Daichi had been in the middle of a meeting when the phone rang. He picked up immediately, knowing that Suga rarely called him at work. He could feel the eyes of several important businessmen on him, as he listened to the cracking voice of his husband, as the story was relayed._

_“Love, it-shh, it’s okay. You’re on the way to the hospital right now? I’ll be there as soon as I can. Hey, Seiko is gonna be okay. I know it.”_

_Daichi hung up the phone as he turned to the rest of the table._

_“Gentlemen, unfortunately there has been an accident.”_

_He hesitated to use Seiko’s proper pronouns among the group. He decided respecting Seiko even when they weren’t present was more important._

_“My child is being rushed to the hospital as we speak, and I must leave.”_

_“Now, hold on Sawamura! This is an important business deal, surely your son can wait!”_

_Daichi felt as if he could throttle the man who dared to tell him that work was more important than his family._

_“Now, you listen to me, **sir**. **Nothing is more important to me than my family.** Do I make myself clear? My child is hurt. How many of you would want to be left in a hospital without someone you trust, when you were kids?”_

_The group looked to the floor in shame. Not only had they been scolded, they had all been scolded by one of the youngest members in the company. Daichi grabbed his suitcase and rushed out the door._

_“Mr. Sawamura?”_

_Suga looked up blearily, his heart heavy._

_“Um…y-yes?”_

_“Seiko wants to speak with you.”_

_Suga followed the nurse into the room. He saw Seiko sitting in the hospital bed, the fact that they had been crying obvious._

_“…oh, Seiko.”_

_Seiko turned to face Suga. The tears came quickly._

_“M-mom!”_

_Suga gently hugged Seiko, as they cried._

 

 

Suga had made sure they followed the treatment plan all the way through, and the doctors had cleared them to play sports again, at long last. Suga thought that Seiko may go crazy, having to sit on the sidelines of the court. He sighed as he returned to cooking.

 

 

 

 

“Tadashi!!! Get back here, you little shit!”

“Gotta catch me first, Keiiii~”

Tsukkishima was thoroughly pissed at his husband. The one night of the week that their three children were out of the house, and of course Yamaguchi was leading him on a wild goose chase.

“You’re a goddamn tease, you know that, Tadashi?!”

The flirtatious giggles he got in return only irritated him further.

“Just wait until I catch you, you little shit!”

Tsukkishima would rather die than admit how much he actually loved chasing Yamaguchi around their house. They had originally planned on going out to a nice dinner, but Yamaguchi refused to dress nicely, as they had planned.

“Awwww, c’mon Tsukiiiiii. Did you give up already?”

Tsukkishima heard the voice from behind him and knew what Yamaguchi was going to do, but had no time to react.

“Surprise!”

Yamaguchi launched himself at Tsukkishima, toppling the two over, and into the bed.

“Goddamn it, Tadashi.”

“So much for dinner, huh, Tsukki?”

Tsukkishima grumbled into Yamaguchi’s hair. He _had_ been looking forward to having a nice, relaxing dinner, with the love of his life. So much for relaxing.

“Curse your beautiful freckled face, Tadashi.”

They laughed with each other, as they settled in to enjoy a nice night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bokuto reached for his vibrating phone, as he grumbled quietly. Akaashi was asleep on top of him, exhausted from the week they had had. But once he saw who was calling he quietly picked up.

“ _Kuroo, this had better be good. I have the love of my life asleep on top of me and I swear to god if you wake him up I will personally cut off your dick._ ”

There was a moment of hesitation before Kuroo responded.

“ _Bro, don’t worry. Kenma’s asleep on top of me too. Just wanted to talk, y’know?_ ”

Bokuto was instantly alert. He and Kuroo had been through a lot together, but it had been a long time since they had had an actual, serious conversation-over the phone, at least.

“ _What’s up, man?_ ”

That was when he heard the sniffling from the other end of the phone. His heart sank.

“ _Are you safe right now?_ ”

Kuroo sniffed, trying so hard to not wake Kenma.

“I-uh…Yeah…Kenma’s laying on top of me, so I can’t really move.”

Bokuto had never been so thankful for Kenma before. He and Kenma were the only ones who knew everything about Kuroo’s past. About the years of self-harm, the pain he had suffered.

“ _So, what’s been going on with you guys this week?_ ”

“ _Uh well…We got cleared to adopt those two kids. I’m excited, but I’m also so scared, man. Like…what if I’m not a good dad? What if I can’t be there when they need me?_ ”

Bokuto could feel his eyes growing wider, as Kuroo expressed his fears of parenthood for the first time.

“ _Hey, Kuroo. You’re gonna be an amazing dad. I mean, come on. Look at you! You’re definitely dad material._ ”

Kuroo was still feeling down until he realized he could make a joke.

“ _Maybe that’s why Kenma calls me Daddy._ ”

Bokuto snorted so loudly that Kuroo was afraid for only a moment that he might have killed him.

“ ** _Kuroo, oh my god!_** ”

Bokuto was struggling to not laugh loudly, as Akaashi was still asleep on his chest. Kuroo was laughing louder by now, and Bokuto assumed that Kenma had woken up. He was so frustrated that Kuroo was able to laugh so loudly, while he had to struggle to keep quiet.

“ ** _That was NOT fair, Kuroo!_** ”

Bokuto at least knew that Kuroo was doing better now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

_Shimizu and Yachi had both been held in high regard in the volleyball community, but when they were eventually recruited to be a management team for Kageyama’s and Shoyou’s team, they were often begged for interviews, and even dates, until the two had had enough of the perverted men hitting on them._

_“Hitoka and I are married, very happily, thank you. We have had quite enough of your rude advances and, frankly, you’re lucky we haven’t reported you to the police.”_

_The reporter hadn’t been scared at first, but when he saw Kageyama and Shoyou (still called the freak duo, even now), he ran away, scared for his life._

_“Was that goddamned reporter bothering you two **again**?!”_

_Kageyama was one of the people that the managers had always gone to, if someone refused to leave them alone. Although he smiled far more than he had when he was younger, he still maintained a furious aura to those who didn’t know him._

_“Y-yes, but it’s okay, Tobio-kun. Kiyoko chased him away! Although…I am worried he’s going to try and spread some sort of gossip about us now…”_

_Yachi was still frazzled, and hiding behind Shimizu._

_“Not if we have anything to say about it!”_

_Shoyou was just as rightfully angry as Kageyama, and anyone could tell._

_“Please, I will handle it. Okay?”_

_Shimizu already knew how to handle the mess that she had inadvertently created._

Shimizu opened her eyes, and realized she had fallen asleep on Yachi at some point in their movie marathon.

“Good morning, ‘Yoko. Sleep well?”

Shimizu nodded her head sleepily, her wife’s lap was her favorite place to sleep.

“I dreamed about that time back then. It was so vibrant…”

“Well, all that matters now, is that it’s over, and he won’t bother us ever again.”

Yachi smiled softly, as she played with Shimizu’s hair.

“How do you keep it so sooooft?! It’s not fair!”

She was joking, but Shimizu simply couldn’t resist.

“Well…for starters, I actually take care of, Hitoka. And shower regularly.”

“Wh-!”

Yachi’s face was a lovely shade of red, as Shimizu pushed exactly the right buttons to get her flustered.

“W-well, it’s not my fault that I have to work all the time, ‘Yoko! I do that so you don’t have to!”

“I know, love, I know. I’m just teasing.”

Yachi sighed. She had never gotten used to that part of their marriage. But she still wouldn’t change it for the world. She could certainly never get enough of Shimizu’s adorable giggles though. But they came to an abrupt stop, as their phones began to buzz in unison.

“I wonder what that’s about?”

Yachi pondered as the two walked over to where they had set their phones up to charge. As they unlocked their phones, they took notice of the date. July 21st. As they looked through their notifications, it clicked. Today was the ten-year anniversary of Suga and Daichi’s adoption of the Hinata siblings. The notification was from Suga. A reminder of the surprise celebration for the siblings.

“Kiyoko, that’s **today**!”

It was already 11 am, and the celebration was planned to begin at 8:30 pm.

“Relax, Hitoka. We have plenty of time to get ready, but we can start now, if that would make you feel a bit better?”

Yachi nodded her head. She was happy that Shimizu always took her anxiety into account, even when Yachi never expects it. She smiled softly, as the two headed into their bedroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seiko groaned as they stretched for practice. It had been so very long since they had been able to do anything other than sitting on the sidelines.

“Hey, Seiko, you doing okay?”

“I’m doing fine, coach!”

Ukai smirked as he walked away from them. He had watched many of the people that Seiko had grown up with suffer some sort of injury on the court, but theirs was one of the worst he had seen. He was proud to see them back on the court again so soon.

“Hey coach! There’s someone here to see you?”

He felt the color draining from his face. Who could it possibly be now?

“Hey coach! It’s good to see you again.”

It was Kageyama. He sighed in relief, as the two walked out of the gym to talk.

“So, what’s up, kid?”

“Well, you know about the surprise party tonight, right?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“We might need some help getting Seiko to go with us to it, without them finding out.”

Ukai pinched the bridge of his nose. He was getting too old for these kids to ask him for all of this help.

“Alright kid. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Oh, wait. Here, coach. Forgot to give this to you.”

Kageyama extended his hand, a deep blue envelope in it. Ukai arched his eyebrow.

“What’s this, kid?”

“Read it, when the team is in class.”

Ukai eyed the envelope suspiciously. Before he could ask anymore questions, Kageyama was off. He watched the younger man running off into the distance.

“So he never did kick the habit of running everywhere. Huh.”

He smiled as he heard this year’s team beginning practice.

“Hey, Seiko, take it easy, okay? Don’t wanna re-injure it!”

“Shut up, Tomo! I’m fine!”

Although Seiko’s words had an edge to them, it was easy to tell they were just joking around with their friends. Ukai strolled back into the gym, and narrowly avoided the first missed serve of the morning’s practice.

“Sorry, coach!”

Seiko called out. Ukai knew just how strong their serves were, but he expected them to be significantly weaker than what had just nearly hit him in the face.

_What the fuck, Seiko?!_

“Seiko, kid. That was an awfully strong serve for you still being injured. You okay?”

They ignored the throbbing in their shoulder. The doctor had said to expect that when they returned to practice.

“I’m fine, coach. Honest! The doc said that the throbbing was to be expected when I came back. But I’ll try and go a bit easier.”

Ukai looked at the group of six first years that were gathered around Seiko. He chuckled to himself. Ten years ago, if someone had said that he would be the first person to coach the first specifically gender-queer volleyball team on Karasuno, he would’ve called them insane. Now? He wouldn’t have it any other way. The official name for their team was still up for debate, but things had changed since Shoyou’s time in the school. Ukai was proud to be the coach, as well as the advocate for lgbtq+ youth in the school.

“Hey coach, you wanna show the first years how to stretch properly for the amount of practice we do in the morning?”

Ukai chuckled. The current captain, Takeru, was an extraordinary captain, even in Ukai’s point of view. He set to work showing the newer team members proper stretches, and how much they had to stretch in order to be ready for practice.

“Hey, Takeru, which team do you think we’ll be playing against first?”

Seiko knew that they had recovered in enough time to be able to play, and hopefully help to carry the team to nationals.

“I’m not totally sure, Seiko. I’m kinda hoping it’ll be either Aoba Johsai, or Nekoma. It’d be so awesome if we could beat uncle’s old team!”

Seiko had been expecting to hear something like that the moment they had opened their mouth. Takeru had been wanting to beat his Aoba Johsai for far too long to give his dream up now.

“Hey, Seiko, wanna hang out after school today?”

“Can’t, mom said we’re doing something tonight. But you can come over, I’m sure that’ll be fine!”

Takeru looked at them quizzically. He wondered if Seiko had forgotten the importance of this day’s date. He decided not to press the matter, in the event that there was a surprise celebration planned.

 

 

 

 

 

“Tobio-chan! What a surprise, I thought you had plans with Chibi-chan today?”

Oikawa was genuinely confused at the younger man on the other side of the counter.

“Oikawa-san. Suga told you about tonight, right?”

“Ah, yes. I’ve been told that neither of them know just yet, is that right?”

Kageyama visibly relaxed as he thought of how to explain what he wanted to do. The bell on the door suddenly chimed, and Kageyama was shoved away from the counter, and fell to the floor by an obviously angry man. As Kageyama watched the scene unfold in disbelief, the man took one step too far. He had known Oikawa when he was known as Tatsuo. The angry man began only calling Oikawa by his deadname, and only using female pronouns. Something inside Kageyama snapped as he saw how much this hateful man was hurting Oikawa. He stood up, came up behind the man and tapped him on the shoulder. The second Kageyama could see his face, he began punching the man.

“ **Tobio-chan! Tobio-chan, stop!** ”

Oikawa was desperately trying to pull Kageyama off of the man, fearing that this situation had escalated beyond his control.

“ **Apologize to him. Right. Fucking. Now.** ”

Oikawa blinked in surprise, as Kageyama held the man face down, as if he were kneeling to apologize. This was the scene that Iwaizumi saw when he walked into the small shop.

“What the actual fuck is going on in here?!”

Iwaizumi looked from Oikawa, who still had tears dripping down his cheeks, to Kageyama, who was still enraged at the man that he seemed to be holding completely still. Then it clicked for Iwaizumi.

“Hey, being transphobic really sucks ass, doesn’t it?”

The man tried to angrily say something, but Kageyama smacked his head against the floor, and he thought better of speaking.

“You okay, Toru?”

Iwaizumi opened his arms, as Oikawa willingly melted into them. He nodded his head against Iwaizumi’s shoulder.

“Alright. Now then. You, you shitty excuse for a human being. Get the fuck out of our shop, and I won’t call the police. I see you in here again, your ass is **mine**. Got it?!”

Kageyama let the man go, and he ran out of the shop as fast as he could. Oikawa sniffled, as Iwaizumi flipped their open sign to closed.

“Alright. Now, I know that Kageyama is here for a reason. Hopefully he didn’t come here just to beat the shit out of somebody. And Toru, you know that the surprise dinner is tonight, right? Yeah? Okay, good. What can we do for ya, Kageyama?”

“Well, I wanted to get something special for both of them, but I’m not sure what I should get for either of them.”

Oikawa and Iwaizumi exchanged a knowing glance.

“We’ll help you out, buddy.”

Kageyama was relieved that Iwaizumi approved of this.

 

 

 

 

 

Shoyou always had busy days. He would start his day by eating a nutritious breakfast, as well as working out, with his husband. After that, he would go to a shelter for abused children, trying to show them that he was their friend, even going so far as to show them the newspapers from when he was their age. He would help as many as he could, but then he would leave just a little bit after the normal lunchtime. Often, he would eat with his new friends, and they would begin to make friends with each other. After lunch, he would meet up with his husband for one-on-one volleyball practice, although they hadn’t played professionally in quite some time, volleyball was still a very big part of their lives.

“Kageyama-san! Kageyama-san!”

Shoyou chuckled, he was still getting accustomed to being called Kageyama by others. But he looked down into the smiling face of a five-year-old girl, one who had been rescued only a few weeks ago.

“Yes, Toki-chan?”

“Lookit what sensei gave me today!”

Shoyou looked at the small item the girl was happily showing him. It was a note that she had been meant to give to her guardian, but she had not yet been placed with a guardian outside of the shelter.

“Wow, Toki-chan! Look at that! It says here that you’re doing excellent with all of your studies, _and_ you’re always so kind and helpful! I’m so proud of you!”

He knew that this girl deserved a home with a happy family, as did her twin sister. Suddenly he had an idea, for where the two girls could be happy together. He dropped Toki-chan off with Tani-chan, her sister, and headed to the small office that he had been given. He just needed to make a few phonecalls, and file the right paperwork.

“Hello, Akaashi-san!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noya was braiding Asahi’s hair, when the phone rang.

“Suga-san? Of course we’re coming to the party! Neither of them know yet, right? Awesome! What? You need me to find some info for you….to make sure that everything is going to go smoothly tonight? Okay, I will find out everything I can about his release date.”

Asahi looked at him in confusion.

“Hinata Katashi. Their father. Gotta find out everything I possibly can. Hopefully he’s not out yet. We’ll find out soon. Don’t worry about it, Asahi.”

It was midafternoon now, they had a few more hours of quiet to enjoy before their children came home.

“There! Aww, you’ll look so handsome at dinner tonight!”

Noya held a mirror, as Asahi admired his handiwork. His hand hovered for a moment above one of his scars.

“It’s okay. I love every part of you, Asahi. You know that.”

Noya lightly kissed the scar that was almost always hidden by Asahi’s long hair. He stood, and went to his office. He needed to find out about Hinata Katashi as soon as possible.

“Hey, Yu? I love you too.”

It was very quiet, but Noya always heard it. He gave Asahi a soft smile, before closing the office door behind him.

 

 

 

Asahi stood, and began looking for their suits. Perhaps tonight would be a good night to break out their wedding suits. As he gently laid each one on their bed, he turned to look at their wedding picture. They had been married for almost six years now. They had adopted a ten year old boy five years ago, and a six year old girl ten years ago. Asahi smiled at the memories. He loved their children, and he wasn’t afraid to show it. He was startled out of his thoughts by Noya yelling.

 

“ **Why the FUCK is he out of prison already?! What the fucking hell is wrong with these people?!** ”

Asahi shook his head. He remembered the day that he first saw Shoyou’s injuries. That man never should have been allowed to walk free again, even in his opinion.

“Do you want me to call Suga, Yu?”

“ **No, I’ll call him, but thanks love!** ”

Noya was still yelling from behind the closed office door. Asahi wasn’t looking forward to the evening as much, now that he knew they would have to be even more careful than before. He decided to call in a few favors with some of his old friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Akaashi looked at the time, as he rubbed his eyes. Three pm.

“Kotaro, why did you let me sleep so long?”

“Cause you’ve been working way too much lately, Keiji!!!”

Akaashi knew he was telling the truth, he had to have been entirely exhausted to fall asleep so quickly. He had wanted to watch a movie with Bokuto, but he had fallen asleep before Bokuto had even pressed the play button.

“Well, I suppose we had better start getting ready for tonight, shouldn’t we?”

Bokuto nodded his head. Seiko’s practice would be over soon, as would Shoyou and Kageyama’s. He wondered how Suga and Daichi were planning on keeping the dinner tonight a surprise, what with both of the siblings living such very busy lives.

“Ko. Listen to this.”

Bokuto turned to look at Akaashi, growing worried when he saw the tears in his eyes. Akaashi pressed play on the voicemail.

“ _Akaashi-san! It’s Kageyama Shoyou again, I was calling to let you know that I’ve found a set of twin girls that I think you and Bokuto-san would both love to adopt! Please, call me back as soon as you can!_ ”

Bokuto covered his mouth with his hand, as he felt the happy tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. They had been trying to adopt for a very long time now. Shoyou had mentioned that he could put in a few good words for them. They had never expected him to go so far as to suggest some children that they might really love to have in their home. They both knew that the twins that Shoyou mentioned must have come from the shelter that he was working at most days now.

“We’ll have to wait until after tod-“

“No, I want to call him back right now, Ko.”

Akaashi was already preparing to call him, and Bokuto knew by now that he shouldn’t even try to stop Akaashi at this point. Akaashi was silent as the phone began to ring.

“ _Hello, this is Kageyama Shoyou, what can I help you with?_ ”

“Shoyou, It’s Akaashi Keiji, you left a message earlier?”

“ _Ah, I did! We can schedule a meeting for sometime next week, if that sounds good? I’ll call you again in the morning to set it up!_ ”

“Th-that’s great! Thank you so much, Shoyou! I’ll talk to you in the morning then!”

Akaashi was crying quietly when he hung up his phone.

“Keiji? What did he say?”

“W-we’re gonna meet the girls next week, Ko. We’re gonna be parents!”

Bokuto held Akaashi tightly as he cried happily. Getting ready for the party was going to take a bit longer than originally planned.

 

 

 

 

“Kenma, come **on**! He’s your best friend, and you _told me_ you wanted to go! We need to LEAVE!”

Kenma was not happy to be woken from his nap and had entirely forgotten about the party for the Hinata siblings.

“Tetsuro, why didn’t you wake me up sooner?! We’ll be late at this rate!”

Kuroo stared at his husband in disbelief.

“Kenma, I **_did_** try to wake you up sooner. You fucking punched me in your sleep, look at this bruise!?”

Kenma felt his face heating up as he went about getting ready for the party.

“I’m sorry, Tetsuro.”

The words were whispered, and if Kuroo hadn’t already been so used to hearing Kenma’s quiet voice, he wouldn’t have caught what he said.

“It’s okay, kitten. After all, you always said to never interrupt your naps anyway.”

Kenma quietly gathered his things for an overnight trip to the Miyagi District. He hadn’t seen Shoyou in far too long. He was excited and Kuroo could tell, as he watched his usually shy husband pattering about, even talking more than normal.

 

 

 

 

 

“Okay, great practice everyone! Seiko, I need to talk to you real quick!”

Takeru was calling out the end of practice, since Ukai had left early that day saying something about minding the small convenience store.

“What’s up, Takeru?”

“I found something recently, and I was wondering if it was yours?”

He held his hand out, and in it was a locket that had been given to Seiko by their birth mother, many, many years ago. Engraved on the back was their birthname-Hinata Natsu. He looked down at his hand, then back to Seiko, who he was shocked to find with tears in their eyes.

“I-I thought I lost this years ago. My mother gave it to me, before everything went to hell. Thank you Takeru. I had given up on looking for this because it was so small. Where…where did you find it?”

“I actually found it in the storage closet, Seiko. Do you have any idea how it could have wound up in there?”

Seiko looked down, remembering the years that they had always come to watch their brother practice, or even just to play a game with their family. The memories came flooding back, as they held the locket in their hands.

 

 

 

_“Bet you can’t find me, Nii-chan!”_

_“I’ll always find you, Natsu!!”_

_Suga shook his head at the sibling’s antics. They were supposed to be helping him clean up the gym after practice, while Daichi had gone out to get their dinner. He sighed as he saw Natsu bolting for the supply closet, as Shoyou began counting to twenty. He and Daichi hadn’t been on the team for a little over a year by now, but everything was exactly the way they remembered it being when they were._

_“…Ready or not, here I come!”_

_Shoyou shouted into the gym, so loudly it echoed. Suga chuckled to himself as he pulled the nets down._

_“ **Nii-chan!!! Help, I’m stuck!** ”_

_Suga’s heart sank as he and Shoyou bolted to the supply closet._

_“Natsu, honey?! Can you hear me?”_

_“Y-yeah!”_

_Suga could hear her sniffling on the other side of the door._

_“Is there anything in front of the door?”_

_“Nuh-uh…”_

_“Okay, stand all the way in the back, as far away from the door as you can, okay?”_

_“O-okay…”_

_Suga took a running start, and kicked the door in. Someone had locked the door, something that had the consequence of being temporarily kicked from the team, because of situations like this._

_“Natsu, honey…are you okay?”_

_She came running into Suga’s arms, sobbing. She had been afraid of being in a dark room alone for a very long time, and now she was terrified._

_“Shhh. It’s okay, we’re both right here.”_

_Suga sat with Natsu on his lap, as Shoyou wrapped his arms around the two._

_“I think it’s time to head home now, what do you think, kids?”_

_Natsu nodded her head against his shoulder._

_She hadn’t noticed her locket was missing until the next day._

“…and that was almost nine years ago, Takeru. Nii-chan looked for it, mom looked for it, dad looked for it, Uncle Tobio looked for it…Nobody could find it.”

Takeru was more than a little surprised by the story about how Seiko had lost their necklace so long ago.

“Hey, can you give me a hand with the clasp?”

He was startled out of his thoughts, as Seiko asked for help putting the necklace back on. The small locket truly suited them, even now.

“Well, I think that mom and dad said we had some stupidly important dinner tonight. I think it has something to do with Dad’s business. But I’m sure they wouldn’t mind you coming too, Takeru!”

“Uh, sure? Let’s go get changed, I think I might need some help with my binder, I got a new one recently, and it’s really hard to get on and off. Could you give me hand with that, Seiko?”

“Sure, Takeru!”

Seiko and Takeru had been lucky enough to have extremely supportive families from a very young age, and both were looking forward to getting top surgery done.

 

Now that both were comfortable in normal everyday clothes, they headed to Seiko’s home, where they would be changing into some nicer clothes for the dinner.

“Mooom! I’m ho-ome, and I brought Takeru over too, is that okay?”

“Sure, Seiko. I hope you’re both planning on changing into suits before we head out…We’re going to be at a _very_ nice restaurant.”

“Don’t worry mom, we’ll look like fucking _models_!”

“ **Seiko**. Language, dear.”

“Sorry mom!”

Seiko and Takeru snickered the whole way to their room.

“It’s probably a really important business meeting, since mom is wanting me to watch my language tonight, I guess.”

“Proooobably. Hey, Seiko, how about this one?”

Takeru was wearing one of Shoyou’s old suits, the on that he had worn to prom, several years ago. It was a dark blue suit, with a light blue dress shirt to go with it, and a soft orange bowtie.

“Whoa, you look so cool, Takeru! Let me just fix your hair, okay?”

Seiko gently took a comb, moving Takeru’s bangs to the left side of his face. Seiko looked at him with a soft smile on their face.

“There. Look at how handsome you are, Takeru!”

They held up a small mirror, and Takeru looked at the hairstyle that he now had. He looked…like a man, and he knew he could always count on Seiko to help him with looking far more masculine.

“…Thank you, Seiko…”

“Hey, Takeru. You know I’m always gonna be there for you. I’ll even be your wingman if you want!”

Seiko had always been easy to talk to, and made the transition from serious conversation to a more lighthearted one. They nudged Takeru with their elbow, as Takeru laughed.

“Well….I do kinda have my eye on a couple people…but I’m not sure how they’re gonna handle me being trans, you know?”

“If they’re transphobic to you I’ll kick their asses.”

The two teens finished getting ready, always laughing. Suga enjoyed hearing the sound of laughter so often nowadays; a stark contrast to when the siblings had first started living with him and Daichi.

 

 

 

 

“C’mon Sho! One more!”

Shoyou and Kageyama’s freak quick attack had only gotten better and faster in the past ten years. Shoyou’s legs were burning, they had been practicing for so long now. He had been running around all day, and was beginning to tire out at long last.

“ **YEAH!!!** ”

A few people always wound up watching their practice, as they were already well known as professional volleyball players.

“Tobiiii I’m exhausted. Please can we go have dinner noooow?”

Kageyama chuckled, as he ruffled his husband’s hair.

“Alright, let’s head home now. Suga-san asked us to accompany him and Daichi-san to an important business meeting tonight, so we need to dress to impress! The dinner is supposed to be at a very nice restaurant. I’ll carry you if I have to, Sho!”

Shoyou groaned as he and Kageyama walked back to Kageyama’s car, and the small crowd began to disperse. Shoyou was far too tired to even realize that it was odd that his adoptive parents wanted him and his husband to attend a business dinner. He yawned as Kageyama handed him a water bottle from their small cooler.

“So, how did work go today, Sho?”

“Oh man, I didn’t tell you yet!! I think I found the perfect kids for Akaashi-san and Bokuto-san! We’re gonna set up a meeting for sometime next week!”

 Kageyama never could get over how amazing his husband really was. As Shoyou was all but melting into the car seat, Kageyama thought about everything that Shoyou had gone through in his life. Survivor of severe abuse, watched his mother die, even gave up eating proper food, to take care of his sibling. And now he was working alongside young children, many of which had also been abused in some way. Although there were the few that hadn’t been abused, they all came to Shoyou when they needed something, but were too afraid to ask the other adults.

“Ahhh, we’re almost home, Sho.”

Shoyou groaned, eyes shut tightly.

_This is going to make things significantly more difficult than they need to be._

Kageyama carried Shoyou into their house, and made sure they both bathed. The smaller man was clearly exhausted, as Kageyama struggled to get him into a suit.

“C’mon Sho, work with me here.”

 

 

 

 

 

Ukai rolled his eyes at Suga, as he inspected his outfit, to make sure it was indeed appropriate for the occasion. He was wearing a somewhat more casual outfit, compared to Suga’s suit. He was wearing a dress shirt, slacks, and a normal tie. He even had his hair groomed in a more pristine manner than usual.

“Well, Suga, do I pass?”

“Hmm. I suppose so. I just wish that Tobio would let me know when they’re coming already. Seiko is getting suspicious.”

As Suga finished his sentence, his phone dinged, it was Kageyama.

“Okay, is everyone except for the siblings there?”

“Yep!”

Ukai had been arranging things so that neither of the siblings would come into contact with any of the other members of the parts until it was time. He had left as soon as Suga had given him the go-ahead.

“Alright kids, come on, or we’ll be late!”

Suga was calling out to Seiko and Takeru, both of which came running out to the car, where Daichi and Suga were both waiting.

 

 

 

 

Kageyama and Shoyou pulled into the restaurant parking lot at nearly the same time as Suga and Daichi did.

“Ah, there they are, Sho. Come on, just a bit farther to walk.”

Kageyama was practically dragging his husband over to his fathers-in law.

“Shoyou! It’s been too long, son!”

“Mmm. Hi mom, dad…”

Suga was overjoyed that Shoyou clearly had no idea what was actually happening. Daichi was heading inside, with Takeru and Seiko close on his heels.

“Come on everyone, they’re waiting for us!”

The small group all walked through the doors, and were escorted to a table by a very bubbly hostess. Seiko was all but pushing Shoyou towards the table.

“Come _on_ Nii-chan! Wake uuuup!”

Seiko was poking at Shoyou, until the group that was already at the table suddenly shouted.

“ ** _Surprise!!!_** ”

Shoyou and Seiko were both startled from their normal sibling antics by the large group of their friends. Neither had any idea what the surprise was about.

“It’s been ten years since we adopted you two, did you forget? Today is the anniversary.”

“Has…has it really been ten years, mom?”

Seiko could hardly believe their ears. They had certainly not expected a surprise party for the anniversary of their and Shoyou’s adoption. Even Shoyou stood, wide-eyed at last.

“I…I can’t believe that it’s been ten years already, mom! And I…I can’t believe you even did all of this.”

Daichi held Suga close as they watched their children finally realizing how much planning had gone into making this a surprise.

“Alright, time to take a photo of the happy family! Come on now, let’s get a good picture!”

The same bubbly hostess had offered to take a picture of the happy family, who were more than happy to have someone take another picture of them.

 

 

Ten years ago, Sugawara Koushi and Sawamura Daichi adopted the Hinata siblings, Shoyou and Natsu.

Left to right: Sugawara Koushi, Hinata Natsu, Hinata Shoyou, Sawamura Daichi

 

 

 

 

Today, they celebrate the tenth anniversary of their adoption.

Left to right: Iwaizumi Toru, Sawamura Koushi, Oikawa Takeru, Sawamura Seiko, Kageyama Shoyou, Kageyama Tobio, Sawamura Daichi, Iwaizumi Hajime

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Reason to Stay has come to an end, much to everyone's sadness.
> 
> And here, I will end the story of how Hinata Shoyou was rescued from severe child abuse, and how his friends and teammates had become his family. Of the many, many things I have written, I think this one is my favorite. I truly enjoyed writing this one, and look forward to writing more fanfictions! If any of you ever want to find more of my artwork, I am on Webtoon, as the author of The Tomboyish Girl (no I’m not out to the people who follow my comics) as well as Hidden Shadows. Of course, I’ll also be writing more fanfiction here, however I may not be writing more Haikyuu for some time. As of now, I will be writing the beginnings of a Gravity Falls fanfiction. As always, I will still be reading and responding to your comments. I’m gonna miss all of you who have been along the ride for this whole fanfiction(I’m lookin’ at you, Jada) but I know I’ll still be seeing some of you on future fanfics. I’m going to miss everyone so much, but I really hope you will all take a look at future fanfics! (But please for the love of god do not read my old fanfics)
> 
> This has been a (rather lengthy tbh) fanfiction by SnapTheVolleyNerd, aka Alex. See you guys in future fanfics!


	24. Not a chapter lmao

Y'all, I didn't expect people to be so interested in this fic when I started it. It was seriously just a way for me to vent when I was struggling with family members being in and out of the hospital, finishing my final term and graduating, and working at a job that treated me like shit. That being said, I have a better job now, I've graduated, my aunt is on the mend, and I'm ready for whatever else is going to be thrown at me. Now then, why am I updating on a finished fic? I wanted to get your opinions on whether or not y'all would like to have a more detailed fic for the purposes of answering any questions you may have about this fic in particular. Hope to hear from you all soon!

Alex~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading this long ass fanfic, and putting up with me being a little shit lmao
> 
> Also, here's mine and Jada's tumblr! https://alexandjadasblog.tumblr.com/
> 
> Come visit some time!


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